The Artifact
by Raythe
Summary: Clex: : Clark tells Lex his secrets as a wedding gift before Lex marries Helen. True feelings are revealed, but Clark's blood is tested and shows that he's human and a Luthor. Then a mysterious artifact is found and Lionel is killed and Lex is suspected.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Artifact

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money made.

Pairing: Clex, Lexionel

Warning: AU, Incest, Slash

Spoilers: Sort of Lineage, but my own very, very AU take on it.

Summary: Clark tells Lex his secrets as a wedding gift before Lex marries Helen. True feelings are revealed, but Clark's blood is tested and shows that he's human and a Luthor. Then a mysterious artifact is found and Lionel is killed and Lex is suspected. Did Lex kill Lionel to protect Clark? Or was it the other way around?

The back-story will unfold in the next few chapters. This chapter takes place in the future of this story and the following chapters relate what came up to this point. I don't want to say too much, because that would ruin some of the surprises. Hopefully this will draw you in enough to warrant a read of the future chapters.

CHAPTER ONE: EDGE

Lex Luthor sat in the Metropolis' Central Police Department's interrogation room number four. His arms were folded loosely across his chest, one leg rested over the other, while his blue-grey eyes stared straight ahead at seemingly nothing. He had been sitting like this for fifteen minutes: still and silent after he had requested his lawyer. As the son of Metropolis' richest and most powerful man and with his plenty of power, money and political pull in his own right, Lex wouldn't have been held for any other reason than the direst: suspicion of murder. Suspicion of murder of Lionel Luthor, his own father.

Detective Branish studied the cool, collected figure before him. Though Lex was only 22, he had the bearing and demeanor of someone much older. He had none of a youth's need to brag or throw his weight around. When Branish had accused Lex of the crime, the young man's only reactions were to blink at him and then give him a tight smile as he requested to call his attorneys. Lex seemed completely unconcerned. And Branish wondered why.

Was it because Lex believed his power and wealth would insulate him from any crimes he did commit? Protect him even from a charge of patricide? Or was it because he was innocent? But the innocent usually protested loudly when falsely accused. Lex hadn't done that. He hadn't seemed offended or even surprised to be accused of murder and that was strange in itself. Branish leant forward on the scarred tabletop in front of him, determined to get some answers.

"You haven't shown one ounce of emotion at your father's death, Mr. Luthor … or may I call you Lex?"

Lex's eyes didn't even flicker to him; it was like Branish simply wasn't there.

"Why is that? Did you hate him so much? What did he do to earn such … dismissal?"

Still nothing. Lex was so still that he resembled more a statue than a man. His alabaster skin emphasized that resemblance. However, the dark purple raw silk shirt and the black of the suit coat Lex wore reminded Branish of bruises. And a statue never bruised, but he believed Lex Luthor did.

"He hurt you, didn't he? Your father …"

There was just the barest movement of Lex's eyes, a quick snap to Branish then away.

"And no one stopped him, did they? He could do whatever he wanted and you … you could be screaming in the middle of a crowded street and no one would come help you. Isn't that right, Lex?" Branish kept his voice smooth and low. His eyes were the only things sharp about him and they catalogued every reaction the other man had to his words.

There was a tightening around Lex's expressive mouth and a pulsing of a vein at his right temple. The bare skull, hair prematurely gone, made Lex look almost vulnerable. No hair to hide his feelings behind.

"Is that why you killed--"

"Killed him? Please," Lex said suddenly, his voice rich with sarcasm. The statue was gone and there was a sense of tightly reined energy as Lex's body turned and he pinned Branish with an icy stare. "Come now, Detective, do you really think I'll confess under the weight of your amateur psychology? If you're even half as intelligent as you seem I'm sure you know that my father was the master of the _mind-fuck_ so … this," Lex gestured between them with a sneer twisting his handsome face, "this is nothing to me."

"Did he fuck you in any other way?"

There was a hiss of breath that Branish didn't know what to make of at first. But then he realized that Lex was laughing. The young man covered his mouth with one hand as the chuckles died away.

"I'm sorry … just you saying it like that as if you could shock me into … oh, Detective, I suppose I gave you too much credit after all."

Branish smiled even as the one hand he held under the table clenched. "Well, compared to you I'm sure to be labeled a dummy. Not all of us can be geniuses."

Lex's mirth faded suddenly. "You don't have to be a genius to know that I had nothing to do with my father's death."

"Oh, well, enlighten me then."

"His neck was crushed, Detective. Pulverized. No human being could have done that." Lex splayed his slender white hands on the table as if to demonstrate how impossible it was for him to have anything to do with his father's death.

"Lex!" A sweet but masculine voice suddenly called as a dark-haired teen burst into the interrogation room.

The teen was closely after by two men in somber, well-cut suits who were obviously lawyers and Branish's Lieutenant who gave the Detective a warning look. He shouldn't have been speaking to Lex after the man had requested his attorneys. But he hadn't been able to resist.

For the first time since Branish had laid eyes on Lex Luthor, the young man finally showed true emotion. There was a softening somehow in Lex's whole stance. His eyes latched onto the teen's form as if there was nothing else in the world.

"Clark … you shouldn't be here."

"Are you kidding me?" Clark's voice rose at the end. His large hands hovered near Lex's shoulders. The boy's desire to grab Lex and pull him close was palpable, but instead the teen just placed them on Lex's shoulders and squeezed gently. "Wherever you go, I'm with you."

The statement reminded Branish of an Old Testament Bible verse that he couldn't quite remember. The sense of something more being conveyed by the two men was clear. Lex's blue-grey eyes became warm and a slight smile tugged at his lips.

"This is nothing to worry about, Clark. They have nothing on me and I would have been out of here in moments anyways." He pointed to the lawyers who were speaking softly but furiously to the Lieutenant, who could only nod and scowl.

"I wasn't going to let you face this alone, not for one second." A mulish expression crossed Clark's almost too pretty features and his bright green eyes narrowed.

Lex snorted softly. He reached up and touched the side of Clark's face, a feather-light brush of fingers, before he pulled that hand away. "Stubborn. Don't know who you inherited that from."

And then Branish knew who the teen was. "So this is the newest Luthor?"

Lex's shoulders tensed and the boy … Clark … gave Branish a sharp look from under dark bangs, clearly annoyed that Lex had been bothered rather than at the comment itself.

"This is my brother … yes," Lex said softly and there was a dangerous lilt to his voice as if daring Branish to say another word.

"He's only your _half-brother_, isn't he?"

"He's my _brother_, Detective. You may mince words, but I don't."

The protectiveness and possessiveness that leaked through Lex's voice was giving Branish ideas, explanations were fitting in place as to why Lex would snap now and go against his father after putting up with … _mind-fucks_ … for years.

Lex suddenly stood, facing Clark and dismissing Branish. He put one hand lightly on the teen's lower back, guiding him towards the door.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Mr. Luthor. You and your _brother_," Branish said.

Lex froze, but didn't turn around. "I don't think so, Detective."

Branish stayed at the interrogation table for a long time after they had left. He ran a hand through his graying hair and exhaled sharply. He could smell the lies and mystery surrounding Lionel Luthor's life and death. It was the sweetest scent to him. He would find out what happened. Even though he knew it wasn't going to be good for his career. Even though from the stone-cold stare Lex had given him it might not even be good for his physical well-being. But Branish hadn't lived his life in safety. He liked walking the edge. And this was the sharpest edge he'd ever found.


	2. Losing You

Title: The Artifact

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money made.

Pairing: Clex, Lexionel

Warning: AU, Incest, Slash

Spoilers: Sort of Lineage, but my own very, very AU take on it.

Summary: Clark tells Lex his secrets as a wedding gift before Lex marries Helen. True feelings are revealed, but Clark's blood is tested and shows that he's human and a Luthor. Then a mysterious artifact is found and Lionel is killed and Lex is suspected. Did Lex kill Lionel to protect Clark? Or was it the other way around? Or did something else altogether happen?

CHAPTER TWO: LOSING YOU

Two months before Lionel Luthor's death …

Clark's POV

It was a month before Lex was to marry Helen. One single, solitary month. And April had only 30 days rather than 31. That single lost day seemed to morph into a symbol for all Clark felt he was going to lose once Lex tied the knot for the second time. He supposed he should be grateful that it was April rather than February separating this moment from the wedding. Twenty-eight days would be even less bearable than thirty.

Clark pressed harder on the accelerator of the truck. He was delivering produce to the Castle, his last scheduled stop on that spring Saturday. He hoped Lex would be free to see him. They hadn't had Saturday plans, just the two of them, for what seemed like forever. Lex was always with Helen and she made it clear that Clark was a third-wheel. Lex's eyes would narrow and their color would become flinty when she acted that way, but he never said anything to correct her belief or protect Clark from her icy barbs. And that hurt. God, did it hurt.

Helen had chipped away at all the things that Clark had come to depend on and cherish about his relationship with Lex. Since she had moved into the Castle, Clark had lost the right to come over any time he wanted to talk with the older man. And there hadn't been any movie nights in weeks where they stayed up till dawn, laughing and dissecting films they loved to hate, as they ate themselves sick on junk food. And Clark could hardly remember the last long drive they'd taken together in one of Lex's cars with the music too loud, not having to talk, because just being together was enough.

Clark supposed that Lex did those things with Helen now. After all, they seemed to mean so much to the older man when he and Clark did them, he couldn't imagine Lex giving them up altogether. Yet it was hard to envision Helen discussing the technical merits of the fifties sci-fi flick _It Came From Beyond_ while rummaging around in the pantry for Skittles and Doritos She seemed too … _sophisticated_ … for that sort of thing.

Maybe that's what Lex really wanted: sophisticated. Which was not what he and Lex were when they were together. They were casual, funny, or goofy. And other times they were intense, volatile, and … passionate. Clark swallowed at the last adjective. He hadn't understood for a long time what it meant when two men had a passionate relationship with each other. He only knew that being with Lex was like having electricity skating over his skin and that he wanted to be in the other man's presence all the time.

But no matter what rumors were whispered about Lex's sexual proclivities in Metropolis, no matter the heated glances that Clark had finally picked up on, Lex had never, ever indicated that he wanted anything more than friendship. If only that knowledge had mattered in the end in regards to Clark's feelings. Clark had watched almost as an outside observer might as he had fallen in love with his best friend. He could do nothing to stop himself. And now … now he had given up any real hope of having Lex as something more than a friend … instead, he was fighting to keep that friendship alive.

"I'm losing him," Clark said to the muddy road and a tight feeling seized his chest.

His eyes blurred with tears. He tried to blink them away, but it didn't work. Luckily, the turn off for the Castle was right there so he didn't have to stop the truck by the side of the road or risk the truck lurching off the road into a cornfield. Clark sat in the cab for a few minutes while he concentrated on breathing. Two questions circled in his thoughts: Why was Lex drawing away from him and why was he marrying Helen?

Clark snorted. The answer to the second question was easy. Lex was marrying Helen because she was beautiful, successful and intelligent. She was the perfect blueblood and that meant she would fit into Lex's world. Helen would know which fork to use at dinner without being told and how to speak to the people at those galas that made Clark's mouth go dry and caused him to toe the ground like a child. But as to the first question, he didn't know the answer or maybe he was too afraid to guess.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He must have put a little too much strength into it and the wheel squeaked in warning. Clark quickly released it, but he'd left finger-shaped indentations in the wheel's surface. He stared at yet more physical evidence of his freakhood and maybe the reason that Lex was pulling away from him.

Because maybe the reason that Lex was drawing away was because Lex was just tired of the lies. Maybe he'd decided a life without a deceitful best friend who asked him to ignore the impossible was a better alternative. If that was the case, Clark was going to fix that this evening. He was going to stop the lying and tell Lex the truth. Hopefully. He'd heard from Chloe that Helen was working late at the hospital that night so Lex would be on his own. Plenty of time to confess everything. This had to work. Clark squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the now familiar sense of panic the thought of Lex not being in his life brought.

"Well, are you coming in or is hanging out in my driveway the new hip way for teenagers to spend their time?"

Clark started at the sound of Lex's voice by his ear. Lex was leaning on the open truck window, a smile on his face and his eyes glittering with laughter.

"Lex! Give a guy a heart attack why don't you!"

Clark's heart rate sped up even further and his palms began to sweat as he caught Lex's clean, masculine scent. Thankfully, he didn't feel nauseous, which he always associated with liking someone as more than a friend since the third grade and his crush on Lana with her dreaded meteor rock necklace.

"It's good to see you too, Clark."

Clark couldn't help the grin that crossed his lips. "Sorry. Didn't mean to jump on you like that. You just startled me is all."

"I figured. You did look to be a million miles away. Penny for your thoughts?"

"Only a penny, Lex? I'm insulted."

Lex drawled, "Well, I would offer you a truck for each one of them, but then your father might have something to say about that."

The famous Lexian smirk came out and Clark felt his stomach flutter, because unlike when used on others, the smirk had no edge to it when sent his way. Why had he not known this was love before? So much more than he'd ever felt for anyone, including his parents.

"How about this, you can have my thoughts for free so long as you can hang out with me tonight." Clark fought with himself not to grip something else on the truck that could bend, break or shatter as he waited for Lex's answer. _'Please let say yes. Please. Please. Please.'_

"I think that can be arranged. Movies and pizza for two?"

Clark could feel his smile stretching from ear to ear. "Perfect."

As he was struggling with the ancient seatbelt release, Lex asked him, "So can you give me a preview of what haunts the minds of farm boys on a spring Saturday at twilight."

Clark's hands froze on the clasp. Should he lie or try to brush the question off? No, no more lying. This was going to be a night about truth. So without looking up at Lex, he mumbled, "I was thinking about you and … and me."

"But you looked so unhappy," Lex said softly and Clark wondered if Lex had meant to say that out loud. Somehow the honest answer made him feel bold.

"I guess, I was … am. Unhappy."

"What? Why?"

Before he lost his nerve, Clark rushed out, "Because I've been thinking about how things are going to change when you marry Helen. How they've already changed … and that I don't like it."

Lex was silent for so long that Clark finally raised his head to look at his best friend. He didn't know what expression he thought he'd see there, but the look of anguish mixed with anger was not it. Lex's reaction was almost as if he blamed Clark for the difference between them, but that didn't make any sense. Clark actually drew back slightly. Lex was clearly furious with him no matter what the reason. Why had he said anything? Why hadn't he just kept his mouth shut?

"Lex, please, I'm sorry I said anything. I'm just … I'm not used to having to share you. I'll get over it. Really. Don't be angry with me."

The fury of emotion seemed to just drain out of Lex and Clark realized how tense his friend had been recently. Just to see him deflate like this was revealing.

"I'm not mad at you, Clark. And don't be sorry." He ran one graceful hand over his bare scalp as he continued, "I knew how you were feeling before you said it. I'm just surprised that you brought it up. Normally we avoid conflict so well these days by just not saying anything."

So Clark's unhappiness had been obvious and Lex hadn't done anything to fix it. Clark's shoulders slumped. Lex's words confirmed that he didn't take first place in Lex's life anymore. Helen came first and Clark just had to lump it.

"I've never wanted to hurt you, Clark. But sometimes a smaller hurt stops a larger one. That's why … that's why certain things just have to be how they are."

Clark opened his mouth then shut it. He didn't know what Lex meant. Instead he just looked at Lex. The older man swallowed deeply, his head turned to the side, showing Clark his profile as the last dying rays of the sun gilded his outline. Clark drew in a deep breath. Lex had never looked so beautiful and so … raw. Like an open wound. It was painful to see and Clark turned away.

Lex's fingers were suddenly under Clark's chin and he was tipping Clark's head up to meet his gaze. All too quick his hand was gone from Clark's skin though it still burned where Lex had touched him.

"You do know that there isn't anyone more important to me than … than you, don't you, Clark?" And again that anguish mixed with anger flashed in Lex's eyes. "No matter if that's right or good or … it's just the way it is."

Clark felt something warm in his belly even as confusion ate at him. "But you just said … I don't understand, Lex. You let on that you knew you've been drawing away and that you meant to do it so … how can I be the most important person in your life if you don't want me in it?"

"Because I have to do what's best for you."

"_You_ are what's best for me!"

Oh, God, had he just said that? Could he sound any more pathetic? But his honest answer was enough to keep Lex's gaze on him with that old familiar intensity. Clark's hands fisted in his lap as the older boy's gaze seemed to take Clark apart piece by piece. Clark hadn't meant for all of his feelings to come out this way. Certainly not in Lex's driveway as the first thing they talked about. He wondered if he was ever going to get out of the truck that night or if Lex was just going to send him on his way home. Go away, kid, you bother me.

Clark forced himself to meet Lex's gaze and he tried to put what he was feeling for the older boy into his eyes: love and trust and just a hint of pain. A shudder went through Lex's body and he reached for Clark as if to comfort him. Clark held his breath, waiting for another one of those rare touches. Just as Lex's fingertips brushed Clark's shoulder, Lex seemed to realize what he was doing and jerked it away as if scalded. Then his back was to Clark and it was like this moment, whatever it was between them, was gone and had never been. Clark ached.

"C'mon, farm boy. It might be spring, but there's a chill in the air once the sun goes down and I've got a fire lit inside."

Lex slid his hands into the pockets of his tailored grey slacks and began to saunter towards the front doors of the Castle. Clark sat there numbly for a second. Should he be glad or agonized over Lex's apparent decision to ignore what they had talked about? _'The question really is whether I'm going to let him get away with shelving the subject. Not this time, damnit.'_

Clark exited the car and jogged after his best friend, hoping after their talk that Lex would still want that title and Clark in his life.


	3. Trading in Truth

Title: The Artifact

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money made.

Pairing: Clex, Lexionel

Warning: AU, Incest, Slash

Spoilers: Sort of Lineage, but my own very, very AU take on it.

Summary: Clark tells Lex his secrets as a wedding gift before Lex marries Helen. True feelings are revealed, but Clark's blood is tested and shows that he's human and a Luthor. Then a mysterious artifact is found and Lionel is killed and Lex is suspected. Did Lex kill Lionel to protect Clark? Or was it the other way around? Or did something else altogether happen?

CHAPTER THREE: TRADING IN TRUTH

Two months before Lionel Luthor's death …

Lex's POV

Lex made a beeline to the liquor cabinet in his study. He could feel Clark's concerned eyes on him as he poured himself a generous serving of scotch and drained half of it in one swallow. He then topped his glass off before retreating behind his desk as if it were a shield or battlement. At least it would be an obstacle between them. Something to consider before he leapt across it and grabbed the boy and explained why Clark's fears that he was being put aside for Helen were baseless.

Such an explanation would involve as much action as talking. Lips like Clark's were made for more than just conversation. He shivered and swallowed another fiery mouthful of scotch. He shouldn't think this way about his young friend. Shouldn't but did. And then there were the other things he felt for Clark that made him want to be less a Luthor and more like one all at the same time.

Clark picked at the hem of his jean jacket, pulled at the white threads, while he obviously debated what to say. It was a nervous tic that Lex had noticed before. Whenever the boy was nervous or anxious or distressed he couldn't still the movement of his hands. Lex knew every one of Clark's tells and what each one meant.

He took another sip of scotch, relished the burn as it ran down his throat. He was grateful that the drinking stopped him from speaking, because seeing that hurt and bewildered look on Clark's beautiful face made him want to make everything all better, say whatever it was that would cause the boy to give him a megawatt smile and launch himself at Lex with puppy-like enthusiasm. But no, that couldn't be this time. He was trying to protect Clark. Protect the boy from himself. The only thing that was wrong about this whole picture was that Clark wasn't acting exactly as he usually did. There was a firmness in his stance even underneath the anxiety that was perplexing Lex.

"Lex, why are you pulling away from me and marrying Helen?" Clark launched the question into the air like it was a rocket.

Lex hid his surprise just barely at this uncharacteristic bluntness, which was another bit of evidence that all was not normal in Clark-world. He wondered if the boy knew how closely those two things were interrelated. He said with a blitheness he did not feel, "When one ties the knot one has less time for one's friends. Even a best friend."

But Clark was shaking his head halfway through Lex's rehearsed statement. "That's why I thought, too, at first, but … that's not what's going on here. I want you to tell me the truth … no matter what it is."

Lex gave a bitter laugh that sounded almost like a squawk. The boy had balls after all the lies he'd told to Lex over the years. "Truth? _You're_ asking _me_ for the truth?"

Clark put up a placating hand, his expression falling slightly. "I know. I'm hardly the one that should be asking for the truth from you or probably anyone."

Whatever Lex had been about to say dried up in his mouth. Clark was actually acknowledging that he had lied. This was new. Dangerous and new. He went to grab his glass, but when he moved his hand those few inches to grasp it, the glass was gone. It was no longer where he thought he had placed it, matter of fact, it was nowhere on his desk at all. Instead, it was in Clark's hand and he was halfway across the room. But Lex hadn't seen him move. Lex's mouth fell open. _'He's faster than I guessed.'_

"I'll make a deal with you. Truth for truth, Lex." With a frown Clark deposited the glass on the coffee table as if it were something unclear rather than 30-year-old nectar of the gods.

"Are you offering to tell me your secrets if I tell you mine?" Lex asked with a painful twist of a smile.

"Yes … well, actually, I'm willing to tell you my secrets without you having to say anything. That was my plan anyways."

"You had power over me there, Clark, and you gave it away. You shouldn't have. I thought I taught you better than that," Lex said softly. He expected his mind to churn with questions now that he had a chance to ask them. But he had no desire to ask anything about Clark's powers. Not at this moment. Even though half of what he thought he wanted from Clark was in the palm of his hand.

Clark shrugged his broad shoulders and a small sad smile appeared on his face. "I think you've got things the other way around. It's you who's always had power over me. But … I don't think this is about power. This is about … saving us."

"Saving us?" Lex's stomach clenched. "I … I don't know what you mean, Clark."

But he did. All too well. In the beginning, he had believed that Clark would be the one to save him from Lionel and his own darker impulses, but that had been a fantasy. Lionel would never let him go. And part of him relished that even though he knew that made him unclean and unnatural in so many ways. So now he believed the only saving that could be done was to separate himself from Clark to protect the boy.

Clark walked over and spun Lex's chair to the side. Then the teen knelt down in front of him. Lex gave a little gasp. The surreal feeling that had been nibbling at him since he found Clark unmoving in the driveway washed over him stronger than ever. For Clark to be on his knees before him meant that this was either the beginning of one of his lurid master/slave fantasies, which was highly unlikely or … but that was just it, he didn't know what the alternative was.

"Clark … this is … Clark, I need …" He tried to rise from the chair, but the teen pressed him back down into it and kept a hold of him. He could feel tremors coming from Clark's hands over his own. The boy wasn't as calm as he was pretending to be.

"You need the truth." Large green eyes looked up at him. "I … I knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but … but you've got to hear me out and then … then you're going to tell me why you're … going away from me."

Lex was still, frozen in his seat, not even the warmth of Clark's body so near, the heat of those large hands on his. "We shouldn't do this."

"Why not?"

"Because it doesn't matter what your secrets are! They aren't the reason I'm pulling away!"

"So you admit you are?"

And there was something a little broken in Clark's voice that Lex had never wanted to hear. Even though Clark clearly already believed that he was drawing away somehow hearing it from Lex for certain hurt the boy. There were actual tears welling in Clark's eyes and it … it was too much. Lex couldn't bear this. He fisted his hands in Clark's soft hair and pulled the boy's face to be level with his own.

Clark's eyes went wide and he stuttered out, "Lex?"

Lex moved so that his lips were almost touching Clark's, desperately desiring to take a kiss he could never have. "I'm pulling away from you and marrying Helen, because I … _want_ … too much."

"What do you want?"

Lex smiled tightly. "_Everything_. And I mustn't have it. Mustn't have you."

And then Clark gave a soft cry and was moving forward. The teen pressed his lips against Lex's in a sweet kiss. It was completely chaste, no tongue and closed-mouth, but Lex drew in a sharp breath after it, taking in Clark's exhale as he did so. He slipped back down into the chair. He was dizzy from a simple kiss. He trailed his fingertips over his mouth. It tingled.

"You can have everything, Lex," Clark said and there was this dawning smile as if a weight had left the boy. "I feel the same way as you do."

"You can't. You just think you do. You could never feel the things I do, because … you're not _dark_ …like I am inside."

"I know what you are inside, Lex. And I'm still here."

Lex waived those statements away though it warmed him inside. "You're too good-hearted. You see what you want to see."

"Even if that's true … I do know you. And you're not as black as you paint yourself. Or that you fear you are."

Lex just shook his head. He could never convince Clark of the truth about himself. The boy saw him … like he wanted Clark to see him. Or perhaps he just saw that last part of his soul that Lionel didn't own.

"Don't do this to yourself."

"Do what?" Lex said as he rubbed one tired hand over his skull.

"Hate yourself."

"Even if it's deserved?" He could hear how bitter he sounded. _'Pity yourself much, Lex?'_ He felt more disgust rise inside of him.

"It's not deserved. Never could be."

Clark suddenly caught him by the shoulders and pulled him into his embrace. Lex was being cradled in Clark's arms. He was rigid for about one second and then he found himself clutching Clark back. It might be his only chance to have this. Warmth and strength and the scent of the sun enveloped him.

"Tell me you don't love me. Tell me that you don't want us to be together. Because I know you'd be lying if you say those things. I can always tell," Clark said.

"So bold, Clark. So confident in your assumptions," Lex drawled even though every word the boy said was true. He rubbed his face against the velvety skin along the side of Clark's neck.

Clark pulled back until they could look at each other. He was biting his lower lip and his eyes were shaded with a bit of fear, but also a quiet determination. "I admit that before I came here tonight … I thought you didn't want our friendship anymore. And now I'm assuming you want a whole lot more. But I … I am right that you want more than friendship, aren't I?"

"You're right." Lex brushed the back of one hand down Clark's right cheek. "But this still can't be, Clark. I'm going to marry Helen and—"

"You can't! You don't love her. I know you don't!"

Lex shook his head and gave a wry smile. "I never expected to marry for love. Just for offspring. Someone _appropriate_ for the tabloids to write about. And after Desiree, I added that any appropriate candidate could not be homicidal to the list. That's about it."

Clark looked as outraged as only a romantic teen could. "Lex, that's not … that's terrible! You can't want that! You deserve more than that."

Clark was right again except about the last part. But this wasn't about want or even deserve. It was about what he could have. What Lionel would allow. And he would never allow Clark even if Lex could trust himself with the boy.

And it was like saying the Devil's name and watching him appear, because at that moment the doors to the study were thrown open and Lionel strode in, his long coat flowing out behind him like a pair of dark wings. His tawny eyes flickered over the tableau they made: Clark on his knees between Lex's thighs and one of Lex's hands still curled in Clark's hair.

Lex felt like he was dropping into one of his nightmares as his father's eyes met his own. A cold, tight smile appeared on Lionel's handsome face.

"It seems I've arrived just in time," Lionel said softly.


	4. The Painting

Title: The Artifact

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money made.

Pairing: Clex, Lexionel

Warning: AU, Incest, Slash

Spoilers: Sort of Lineage, but my own very, very AU take on it.

Summary: Clark tells Lex his secrets as a wedding gift before Lex marries Helen. True feelings are revealed, but Clark's blood is tested and shows that he's human and a Luthor. Then a mysterious artifact is found and Lionel is killed and Lex is suspected. Did Lex kill Lionel to protect Clark? Or was it the other way around? Or did something else altogether happen?

CHAPTER FOUR: THE PAINTING

Two months before Lionel Luthor's death …

Lionel strode across the room, filling Lex's study with his trademarked tightly reigned energy. The older Luthor's eyes raked over them. Lex stiffened in his seat for just a moment, his hand loosened from where it was fisted in Clark's hair and slipped down to the armrest. Clark wanted to protest at the loss of Lex's touch even as he cringed at having Lionel see them in this private moment.

"So, Father, to what do we owe the … _honor_ … of your presence this evening?" Lex asked archly.

Lionel stood a foot away from the desk, facing them. He held his leather driving gloves in one hand, which he suddenly slapped against his thigh. Clark flinched at the sound. Lex's hand was suddenly on his arm, gently stroking, calming.

"Saving you from something you'll … _claim_ … to regret," Lionel said.

"What the hell are you talking about, Father?" Lex's voice was sharper than Clark had ever heard it.

"I've discovered something," Lionel said softly, his eyes glittering with some unnamed emotion as they suddenly riveted on Lex. "Something you both need to see. Perhaps its fate that I found you here like this. Spares me a second … _unveiling_ … at least."

"Well, show us or get out. Preferably the latter, actually," Lex said, his fingers curling tighter around Clark's forearm.

Lionel's eyes narrowed and a cold smile crossed his lips.

"Ah, Lex, I know that you have grown used to speaking your mind with me these days. Not showing the appropriate … _deference_ … to me as your father. And I have allowed it. However, I will allow you this one last slip tonight … but _no_ _longer_," Lionel said as he fingered the supple leather between his fingers.

Clark saw Lex swallow hard and there were small stress lines that suddenly appeared at the side of his mouth.

"Really? And what has changed so radically that I should show you … _fatherly …_ deference?"

"Why don't you both come and see," Lionel said, turned on his heel and walked swiftly to the doorway. There he paused, his head turned slightly to the side as he added, "_Now_, Lex."

He then disappeared into the darkness of the hallway beyond, swallowed up by it.

Clark growled low in his throat and leapt up to his feet ready to race after Lionel. "I hate him! How can he speak to you like that? He has no right!"

Lex could never physically stop Clark from doing anything, yet his hand on Clark's arm froze the boy in place, stopped him from chasing after Lionel and making sure that the elder Luthor could never look at Lex like that again, talk to Lex like he owned him, like Lex just had to obey … or else. Clark stared into the darkness where Lionel had gone.

"Don't, Clark."

"But I can--"

"I won't have you do anything that could make you … _less_ … than you are. And doing violence to him though appealing at first … he's just not worth it."

Clark's gaze jerked back to Lex. The older boy looked so tired like he was weighted down with lead. All the fight just drained out of Clark even as his anger grew. Lionel did not have the right to breathe the same air as Lex let alone make him look so … so pained.

"You mean _you_ aren't worth it. But you are, Lex. You're worth … _everything_ … to me," Clark said.

"It's not that, Clark. Not exactly," Lex said and rubbed his temples like one of his migraines was coming on.

Clark could feel Lex drawing into himself, closing Clark out, and he refused to let Lex do that this time. So he leaned forward to steal a kiss.

Lex didn't react at first to Clark's lips on his, but suddenly he was threading his hands through the back of Clark's hair and pressing their mouths together, devouring Clark. The younger boy whimpered softly under the onslaught. Lex's lips felt like hot silk. His tongue darted in and out of Clark's mouth, tasting and tickling almost at the same time. Clark moaned when Lex broke the kiss and drew back with a cat-like satisfied smile on his face.

Clark shook himself out of the kiss-induced fog. He knew that Lex had kissed him like that because the older man wanted to, but also to distract him from Lionel. However Clark didn't give up that easy. He was going to protect Lex from his father whether he wanted it or not. What good were his powers if he couldn't use them to take care of the ones he loved?

"I'd do anything to keep you safe," Clark said.

"And I would do the same for you. But Lionel's too dangerous. And you're too precious to risk. Let me handle my father," Lex said as he stood, smoothing down the front of his shirt. "C'mon, the sooner we see whatever it is he has to show us the sooner he'll leave."

As Lex tugged him out of the study, Clark wondered what it was that Lionel was so keen to show them. He just couldn't imagine that anything the elder Luthor wanted to share so badly could be good.

Lionel was waiting for them in the foyer. He was standing before a cloth covered canvas, which was taller than he was by several feet and just as wide. It was leaning up against the wall opposite the double front doors. It looked almost as if it belonged there. Clark felt something in him twist with apprehension. He scanned the room for Kryptonite, but there wasn't anything.

"So this is what you wanted to show us, Father? A painting?" Lex cocked one eyebrow up.

"Its the paintings that originally resided in this foyer when the Castle was in Scotland. It had been damaged in a fire long ago. It was so soot-covered when I last saw it that it looked like a pure black square. I just got around to having it cleaned and returned from Scotland for the grand opening of the Luthor Wing of the Metropolis Museum," Lionel explained.

Lex walked over to the tarp and was about to tug it off when Lionel caught his wrist. Lex tried to jerk his hand back, but Lionel held him fast. Clark was suddenly at Lex's side. Lex's disapproval stopped him from using his strength to wrench Lionel's hand away at the last moment.

"Don't you want us to see what's under here?" Lex asked calmly, even as his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Isn't that the point, Father?"

"In due time," Lionel said and finally released Lex's wrist. "I want to tell you some of its history first. So you understand the full … _impact_ … of what you are about to see."

Lex drew his hand up to his chest and rubbed at the skin that Lionel had touched. Clark whispered, "You okay?"

"Fine. Just let him have his fun," Lex answered softly.

Lionel was watching their exchange through hooded eyes, a strange pleased smile on his face.

"What?" Clark suddenly asked Lionel. "What are you so happy about?"

"That you are protective of one another. I'm … _glad_ … to see it."

Lex gave Lionel a sharp look. "Father, are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine, Lex. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're always lecturing me that no one but family is trustworthy. What's changed?"

Lionel gave a small chuckle and shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Want to let us in on the joke then?" Lex asked.

"Like I said, Lex, in due time." Lionel began to pace from one end of the painting to the other then spun on his heel and retraced his path. "Now. This painting is of our Luthor ancestors. Lucian Luthor and his younger, half-brother, Christian. Or rather I should say, his _bastard_ half-brother. Not that it mattered to Lucian. He insisted that Christian live with him and be treated as a full Luthor from the start. Even after Lucian married he … _insisted_ … on Christian remaining with him and his wife and son in the ancestral home. Lucian said it was Christian's home as much as his."

"They were close then? " Lex asked. "Like brothers should be."

"It was rumored that they were … _too_ _close_. Lucian's wife, Alexa, was dreadfully jealous of Christian … _naturally_ … or unnaturally as the case may be."

Lex's grey eyes went dark suddenly like pewter. "And?"

"She decided to do something about the … _rival_ … for her husband's affections."

"What did she do to him?" Lex asked. "What did Alexa do to Christian?"

Clark shivered as he heard Christian's name on Lex's lips. It sounded … _right_ … more right than his own name sounded when Lex said it. Clark felt a spurt of irrational jealousy.

"She killed him of course," Lionel murmured.

Lex's face twisted into a grimace. Clark swore that Kryptonite must be nearby as he felt almost violently ill for a moment.

"How?" Lex asked, his voice catching on the word.

Lionel shrugged. "Unknown. But how _she_ died … well, that is known and quite the tale." Lionel gave a grin at that, shark-like. "Lucian strangled her and … set her on fire."

Clark made a pained noise. Though he could not feel the agony of a burn, he could imagine it. Lex looked terribly pale himself. Clark reached over and touched his shoulder. Lex leaned into him.

Lionel continued unphased. "The fire damaged this painting. Then … then Lucian killed himself. He bound his body to that of Christian's corpse and leapt from a high cliff into the sea below. The only reason the Luthor line survived was through Lucian and Alexa's child. He had been sent away to school the week before."

"That's … that's awful. Dead? All but the child …" Clark whispered.

Lex turned his head to the side, sagging slightly against Clark as he said softly, "So Lucian got revenge on her …"

"Romantic nonsense! They were all dead. It was a complete … _waste_," Lionel said, disdain coloring his words.

Lex's head jerked around to face Lionel. "What should Lucian have done?"

"If you don't know, Lex, then I haven't raised you right at all," Lionel sneered.

Clark's hands fisted at his sides. Damn Lionel for berating Lex! Clark had no idea what Lionel thought that Lucian should have done to Alexa, but it was bound to be awful and Clark was glad that Lex hadn't known the "right" answer. It showed he was his own man. Not his father's clone.

"And what is the purpose of telling us this sordid story, Father?"

Lionel turned his back on them to face the painting. His voice became soft as he said, "When I first saw it … I thought someone was playing a joke on me. One they would regret. But I was able to both confirm the painting's authenticity and … and the authenticity of what it was showing me."

Lionel looked over his shoulder at them and that satisfied smile was back again. "This is a painting of Lucian and Christian. I think you may find it … _illuminating_."

Clark shivered. Lex frowned. Then Lionel tugged off the cloth and the painting was revealed.

Clark heard Lex gasp, but the younger boy couldn't say anything at all. His vocal chords were frozen. The painting was of two young men dressed in clothes of a century past.

Young men who could have been Clark and Lex's twins.


	5. Betrayal

Title: The Artifact

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money made.

Pairing: Clex, Lexionel

Warning: AU, Incest, Slash

Spoilers: Sort of Lineage, but my own very, very AU take on it.

CHAPTER FIVE: BETRAYAL

Lex's POV

"Father, what stunt are you trying to pull?" Lex asked, his body taut, eyes flashing, as he rounded on Lionel.

"This is no stunt, Lex," Lionel answered softly, a half-smile on his lips.

Lex's gaze darted over to Clark who, other than making a sharp gasp, had said nothing since the painting's unveiling. The boy's large green eyes were fixed on their doppelgangers and his expression was unreadable. Lex hands fisted at his sides as he yearned to comfort the boy but knew he shouldn't in front of Lionel.

Lex instead studied the figures in the painting. The green of Clark's eyes was captured perfectly in Christian's face. The brightness and goodness just shone through the oils. Lex's own double had a half-smile gracing his lips as if he had a secret. The painted figure had Lex's clean features and lean, muscular body. The only physical difference between them was that while Lucian had red hair like Lex used to, Lucian's was far longer than Lex's had ever been. It was drawn into a ponytail at the base of his skull.

The artist had also captured another similarity: the love in Lucian's eyes as he gazed at Christian. It could have been Lex in an open moment with Clark. Lex's shoulders twitched at the resemblance. This had to be some kind of elaborate plot that his father was creating. A hoax to stop Lex from taking a man to his bed and, for the first time, into his heart. His chest seized, because if this painting showed the truth then both those things could never occur. Lex's gaze snapped back to Lionel.

"What does this prove? It proves nothing. Nothing!" Lex heard his voice pitch up in the end and snapped his mouth shut as if that would stop the building of the emotions in him.

"The painting by _itself_ arguably proves nothing. But it does raise quite a few interesting possibilities though, doesn't it?" Lionel tapped his chin with one long finger. It was a movement he made when teaching Lex a lesson. Lex's shoulders ached with the tension that was mounting in them.

"Do you have something more than this obvious … _forgery_?" Lex spat the word out.

"Its not a forgery, Lex. I thought that at first, too, but there is other proof."

"What other proof do you have that this shows … this shows …" Lex flapped his hand helplessly in front of him. He couldn't speak the words. Wouldn't.

Lionel opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment the front doors to the mansion opened and Helen walked in with a gust of cool evening air. Her long hair was done up on the top of her head, but tendrils hung down, trailing along the tops of her shoulders. There were dark circles under her eyes. Her gaze landed on Lex then skittered away. His fiancee was the last person he wished to see at that moment and apparently she didn't want to see him either, which was surprising and unnerving. She was usually so effusive and clingy with him, but now she remained near the front doors as if she believed she'd need to make a quick exit. What had she been up to?

"Ah, Helen, your timing is impeccable," Lionel said, his cat's smile growing and Lex's stomach dropped. She had definitely been up to something. And with his father.

"Lionel." Helen's head tilted downwards, her gaze fixed on her bag.

"I was just telling Lex and Clark about … well, proof and truth and all of that. But you are the doctor. You are far more qualified than I to speak of this particular truth."

Lex wasn't surprised by the half-hidden jealousy and hurt that crossed Clark's face when he saw Helen. Nor was Lex surprised when he saw the mirroring spark of jealousy in Helen's eyes. She had always been threatened by his and Clark's relationship and had not been shy about showing it. But the hint of triumph in her eyes when she looked over at Clark now was new. Lex stepped between them, blocking her view, forcing her to look only at him.

"Helen, what is he talking about?"

High spots of color were on her cheeks and her eyes looked glassily bright as she said, "Lionel asked me to test Clark's blood--"

"WHAT?" Clark's voice rang out, high-pitched and frantic.

Lex twisted around to face him. Clark's pallor had gone talcum-powder white. He was shaking. Lex grasped his shoulder to steady him.

"Clark?"

"She … she has my blood, Lex! She … she _tested_ it!" Clark swayed perilously on his feet.

Lex grabbed him just in time and led him over to a chair by the side table. The boy landed heavily into it then seemed to just collapse into himself. Lex knelt down in front of Clark, cupping the boy's face to make Clark look and him.

"Well, what an interesting reaction. And yet I'll wager he has no idea what she is actually going to say she found," Lionel murmured.

Lex shot his father a look. Lionel merely smiled in wider in response. Lex frowned deeply.

"What did you find, Helen, after you _illegally_ and _unethically_ tested Clark's blood?"

Helen's head rocketed back as if Lex had slapped her. He suddenly wished he had.

"Lionel asked me to do a paternity test. And I thought … thought you would be pleased if it turned out that Clark was your brother. You always act as if he's part of your family. I thought it would make you happy if he actually were," she rattled this information off, rushing through it so fast at the end that her words seemed to run together.

"You thought I'd be pleased," Lex repeated the words slowly, words which felt like foreign objects on his tongue.

"Yes."

"That you _violated_ Clark's privacy? That you did something my _father_ asked you to do? That you _omitted_ to tell me about it? You thought I'd be _pleased_ by such actions?" Lex's voice was quiet.

"I … yes, but obviously, I was wrong. Lex … don't you want to know the results?"

Lex fought not to tighten his grip on Clark's head even though he guessed the boy couldn't be physically hurt that way. "I think I can guess from the look on Lionel's face what the results are, but I don't see _how_ they can be."

"He's your brother, Lex. Your half-brother," Helen said. "The how is biology."

Clark suddenly was up out of the chair, practically vibrating before him. His eyes were impossibly wide, his mouth parted and his breath coming in harsh gasps. "What is she saying, Lex? It can't be true! Can't be!" Clark was grabbing Lex and gripping his forearms tight. "I can't be your brother! It's impossible!"

"Clark, you are adopted …it _could_ be true." Even though he didn't want it to be.

"NO! Lex, It CAN'T be! It's impossible, because if it were true than everything my parents told me was a lie! And they wouldn't lie to me, Lex! They wouldn't!" Clark stopped speaking suddenly then swallowed and shook his head.

Lex petted Clark's heaving chest. His own lungs ached from just watching the boy practically hyperventilate. The thought of being a Luthor would be tough for anyone to take, but this terror reaction was something else entirely. Clearly there was more going on here than he knew, possibly to do with Clark's secrets, ironically the ones the boy had wanted to confess to him that very night. Lex did not want to find Clark to spill whatever it was in front of Lionel and Helen.

Lex met Clark's frightened gaze and used the force of his personality to calm the boy. He laced his fingers through Clark's nearer hand not caring who saw. Clark convulsively clutched him back.

"Clark, let's just take this one step at a time. Just because someone says a thing doesn't make it fact. All right? I'll take care of this. Let me take care of this."

The boy's shuddering breaths came in slower. His shoulders slumped and his head dipped down. "But Lex--"

"No buts. I'll take care of it."

Clark nodded mutely. Lex took a deep breath himself and turned to face Helen and his father.

"I want Clark's blood. All of it," Lex ordered.

"Not a problem, son. Helen, give it to him," Lionel instructed.

Helen reached into her bag and removed a sealed vial. Clark's hands flexed at his sides and Lex could feel the boy's desire to rip the vial from her hands.

"I'm sure you want to test it yourself," Lionel said as Lex's hand closed over the vial.

"I will be confirming Helen's results," Lex gritted out. There was little blood left. He was sure that the results had been checked and rechecked using up the fluid. But he would run the tests again. He would also ask Clark for a fresh sample. For all he knew the vial contained his own blood. Clark's eyes followed the vial. "I'll need a sample of your blood as well, Father."

"Of course. But no matter how many times you test his blood and mine, the results will be the same, Lex. You should reconcile yourself to having a brother. And you, Clark," Lionel said as he walked over and lightly patted the boy's shoulder. Clark flinched. Lionel withdrew his hand. "You should prepare yourself to become a Luthor and all that entails. I expect great things from all my _boys_."

Clark's eyes widened and he moved closer to Lex's side. Lionel then turned on his heel and went to the stairs leading up to the second floor and the bedrooms.

"Where are you going, father?"

"To my rooms, Lex. Did you think I was going to leave without matters being settled here?"

"And how long do you plan on staying?"

Lionel's teeth seemed to glow in the low light. "Oh, Lex, who says I ever intend to leave? After all I have a growing family in need of a large home. And this," he gestured around the foyer, "is nothing if not large."

Lionel laughed as he walked upstairs leaving Lex, Clark and Helen alone. There was a moment of silence; it felt so heavy, leaden. Clark was staring at his feet, his face a mask of fear. Lex's heart hurt from it. Helen had caused this. His father had caused this. Could Clark be his brother? He ran a hand over his skull.

"Lex," Helen said, her voice soft yet echoing.

"Helen, you need to go. I … I don't wish to see you right now," Lex said, his silver eyes cold and distant.

She stepped forward, her hands fluttering up from her sides as if to touch him. Lex stiffened and she stepped back.

"You said you don't want to see me _now_ … does that mean you will in the future?" She sounded like a little girl, uncertain, rather than the sharp-minded doctor that she was.

Lex's shoulders straightened and he stared at her a long time without speaking. He contemplated her and the painting that was behind her. She had betrayed him. She had helped his father. But she was the only thing right now between him taking Clark to his bed. The painting and the possibility that they were brothers tortured him. But he wondered if the taboo of incest would be enough to keep his hands off the boy now that he knew Clark wanted him, too.

"I'm uncertain."

Helen gave a nervous laugh. "You're never uncertain, Lex."

"Don't ask me what I'm certain of right now, Helen. You won't like the answer," Lex said.

"I … I understand," she said, her gaze slipping over to Clark who still seemed lost inside his own mind.

"So go. Now. I will call you … if I wish to see you again."

She nodded woodenly and turned back towards the door. With one hand on the knob she said over her shoulder, "I did this because I love you, Lex. Not to hurt you."

"No, but you did."

Lex's watched as she walked out the door.


	6. Becoming a Luthor

THE ARTIFACT

By Raythe

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. No money made.

PAIRING: Clark x Lex; Lionel x Lex

WARNINGS: Slash/Incest/AU

RATING: M

HINTS AND WARNINGS: Sorry about the long wait for an update. Do not worry about this piece not being finished. It will be! It'll be a long one, too. It's just that I am working on Forbidden, my Star Wars piece, and that is taking more of my time right now. But do not despair this piece is talking to me as well.

Hope you like this newest installment. Please let me know what you think. I appreciate each and every comment I get!

Hugs,

Raythe

CHAPTER SIX: BECOMING A LUTHOR

Clark's POV

Clark watched Lex's still figure for long moments, forgetting his own panic in the face of his best friend's pain. Lex never trusted people easily. He always believed that they were going to betray him. Clark had been trying for so long to make Lex see that this wasn't always the case. But then there would be someone like Helen, who Lex cared for, and who betrayed him, and all Clark's words of trust and humanity's goodness would sound hollow in his own ears.

Clark was beginning to believe that perhaps he couldn't talk about other people's motives in regards to the Luthor heir, but only his own. He would never betray Lex. The only lies he ever told Lex were to protect him. But that was supposed to change tonight and considering the false accusation that he was Lex's brother, that change had come none too soon.

Clark's hands twitched at his sides. He longed to reach out and wrap his arms around Lex's slim, muscular body. He knew that Lex would be stiff at first against him, resisting the comfort he was offering, but then the older boy would relax all at once as if he were conceding defeat. Before he could think better of it, wonder if it were wise with Lionel just upstairs, and with the ridiculous, impossible, absolutely-could-not-be-true claim that Lex was his brother hanging over them, Clark was up and moving. He pulled Lex's back flush against his chest and buried his head between Lex's neck and shoulder. Lex tensed as Clark knew he would, but the older boy allowed the embrace and after a long moment covered Clark's enveloping arms with his own.

"I'm sorry," Clark said, his voice muffled as he mashed himself against the softness of Lex's neck and shirt.

"About what?" Lex asked, tilting his head almost imperceptibly to allow Clark closer to him.

Clark swallowed. "Helen."

"But why? She was the one who violated her duty of confidentiality to you—"

"She hurt you," Clark cut Lex off.

Clark wanted Helen out of Lex's life, but not like this. Clark admitted to himself that he was jealous of her and he was horrified that she had taken his blood and tested it without his consent, even though somehow, miraculously, she had come up with an utterly wrong result; wrong species even, but he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. But in the end he didn't want Lex's worldview to darken even more that it already had and Helen's betrayal could do just that.

"I guess there won't be any more worries about her taking up our time together," Lex said, bitterness lacing his voice.

Clark swung Lex around to face him, gripping his shoulders. The other boy's sardonic smirk was belied by the wounded look in his eyes, but somehow Clark didn't see it fast enough to stop the words from spilling from his mouth, "Until the next suitable woman comes along, right? And you have to end our friendship for my sake again. I won't allow it, damnit! Surely this shows that they aren't good for you. These women. You need me and only me!"

"There must always be a next woman, Clark, for heirs, remember? And there must be another now. Especially now. Especially if …" Lex broke off and gave a sharp laugh, his eyes flickering away from Clark's.

"Especially if I'm your brother, right, Lex?" Clark asked and tightened his grip on Lex's shoulders, drawing off when he realized that Lex must be feeling some pain even if he wasn't showing it. "But I'm not your brother. I could never be your brother."

Lex's eyes flashed and jaw clenched. He pulled away from Clark and began to pace the hallway.

"And why not, Clark? Why couldn't you be my brother? You're adopted and the blood tests showed … well, I'll confirm what they showed." He then added under his breath, "It would just be so typical, that the person I want more than anything in the universe would be taken from me like this."

Lex froze in front of the canvas of their doppelgangers.

"Even this damn painting suggests that … that we're … we're related," Lex said almost helplessly.

"But it's impossible!"

Lex spun around to face him. "You keep saying that, but without any explanation! Just because you don't want it to be true doesn't mean it isn't!"

Clark opened his mouth then closed it only to open it again. Why couldn't he get the words out about his alien heritage? He had practiced what he'd say. But they weren't coming. His eyes actually pricked with tears as he fought to tell Lex the truth. It was like he had been programmed for so long to keep it inside that it was impossible to tell. Lex must have seen how he was struggling, because the older boy's expression softened and he crossed to Clark, framing his face with his strong and agile hands.

"I'm sorry, Clark. I'm lashing out at you when you're the last person who deserves it," Lex said his head lowering so that Clark couldn't see his face. "I'll perform the tests. Helen must have made some kind of mistake. I'll need some more blood from you and then we'll get this all sorted out."

"I can show you something that'll sort it out right now, Lex," Clark said, his voice finding him suddenly.

Lex's head jerked up. "What? What do you mean?"

Clark wet his lips even as his mouth went desert dry. "I don't want you to be afraid by what I show you."

Lex opened his mouth to speak then stopped and frowned. "Afraid? I could never be afraid of anything to do with you, Clark."

Something eased in Clark's chest. Lex was telling him that he would accept him no matter what. Clark only hoped that was as all-encompassing an acceptance as it sounded.

"Good. I'm glad. But I won't hold you to that. Now I'm going to take us to the farm," Clark said as he drew Lex against him again.

"Uh, Clark, shouldn't we take one of the—" Lex finished speaking just as Clark dropped out of superspeed at the doors to the farm's cellar. "—cars?" Lex legs wobbled as Clark gently released him. "What? What just happened? We're … we're at the farm?"

"Yes. Superspeed. It's one of my gifts." Clark ducked his head, not sure if he wanted to see Lex's expression at that moment.

Lex's head jerked this way and that as he took in all the familiar sights of the farm, including the lighted windows from the kitchen that shone out onto the porch. A shadow that passed in front of the curtains for a moment as Clark's mother went to the sink. Clark was struck by the fact that life as normal was going on within the farm house while outside of it nothing was normal, maybe would never be normal again.

Lex ran a shaky hand over his forehead. "Superspeed? Right. Of course. The blurs on the cameras. That was you."

Clark raised his head at the awe he heard in Lex's voice. There was no disgust or fear in it. Just wonder. He felt brave enough to meet Lex's gaze. The older boy was looking at him with undisguised delight. Lex walked towards Clark and cupped his cheek. His eyes were bright and wide. A true smile curled the corners of his lips upwards.

"There's more that I can do," Clark confessed, feeling an eagerness to tell everything now that Lex had been so accepting.

"I bet. Tell me or … show me … if you want to," Lex amended.

Clark grinned. "Look at that pile of leaves on the pathway."

Lex turned and looked as Clark used his heat vision to set them ablaze. Clark let them only burn for a moment, before he stamped the flames out. The older boy gave a soft whoop of amazement.

"Laser beams from your eyes?" Lex asked. "Of course! Those unexplained fires. That was you?

"Yeah. I had a hard time controlling that power forever. And … well, I'm really strong and can't really be hurt. Except for by the Kryptonite."

"Kryptonite?" Lex cocked his head to the side.

"The meteors."

Lex looked confused at the fact that Clark had a special name for the meteors, but Clark would explain that soon enough.

"This is all amazing. But are your powers all that you wanted to show me? Because they don't prove you aren't my brother, Clark," Lex said kindly, "They only prove that you're a mutant like me, but with the choicest pick of the mutations. You've almost got all the super powers any comic book hero would need to be invincible."

"Comic book hero? You're such a geek, Lex," Clark teased then dropped his head, unable to look at the older boy again. "But my powers aren't what I brought you here to see."

Lex put several fingers under Clark's chin and tipped his head up. "What then?"

"I'm not a mutant, Lex. I'm the cause of the mutations," Clark said.

"I can't believe that, Clark. That's not possible."

Clark covered Lex's mouth with two fingers to stop him from speaking. Lex's lips were so soft that it made Clark want to kiss him or be kissed by him. But it seemed wrong to do so before Lex knew what Clark really was. Not his brother. Could never be his brother, because he was not human. He was alien. More alien than any Luthor could ever be.

"Let me show you," Clark said softly and opened the doors to the cellar.

He switched on the light and the lone bulb that hung in the center of the cellar flickered on casting a circle of sickly yellow light on the cellar's dirt floor. Clark gestured for Lex to go down first. As soon as both boys were at the bottom of the rickety cellar steps, Clark moved ahead of Lex to his tarp-covered space ship in the corner.

He didn't think. Just twitched the cover aside, hoping that somehow the shock would be less if he did it quickly. He didn't turn around and look at Lex. Instead he stared at his own distorted reflection in the ship's shiny surface. But when Lex didn't say anything for what seemed like ages, Clark had to turn around to face him. Had Lex fainted? Was he backing away in horror? Clark's heart clenched as he spun around to face his best friend.

Lex's expression was almost blank. His eyes slivery gray in the low light. "It's a space ship, isn't it?"

Clark nodded.

"Yours?" Lex's voice continued on in that almost inflectionless way.

Clark nodded again. A tremor running through him as Lex just stared seemingly calmly at the ship then at him.

"And this is why you can't be my brother … because you're not human. You're an alien," Lex said softly.

Clark gave one quick jerky nod.

Lex suddenly gave a strangled, hysterical laugh. The older boy covered his mouth as if to stuff the laughter back in, but his shoulders jerked as it tried to force its way out of him. Suddenly, instead of laughter, a sob broke out, almost like a wail and Lex turned away and towards the wall. He clutched at the wall boards, his fingers going white as he dug his fingers into the soft wood.

Clark's heart was trip hammering in his chest as his friend seemed to be losing his mind. Clark had expected disgust, fear, even rage at all the lies he had told Lex over the years. But not this bone-deep despair. Even though he feared Lex would scream for him, the alien thing he was, to get away, Clark had to go to him. Had to help him if he could.

"Lex … are you … are you okay? I mean I know you're not. But please … I know it's a shock. I didn't know until you hit me with your car and then … then … my parents … I mean they aren't my parents, but they found me and raised me and … they told me after I put my hand in the thresher and it didn't hurt me that I was an alien. Oh, God, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, so sorry I lied, but please … please tell me you're okay!" Clark babbled as he gently petted Lex's back.

Lex took in huge, deep breaths as he tried to control his breathing and the silent shaking laughter mixed with sobbing stopped and his shoulders slumped. Slowly, after about five minutes, Lex turned to face Clark. Although the sobbing and the laughter were completely extinguished as if they had never been and Lex's iron control was in place again, Lex's eyes looked bleak, almost haunted. He reached up and cradled Clark's face again. One of his thumbs running down Clark's cheekbone. Was he trying to see if Clark still felt human? Or if there was an alien physiology beneath that thin layer of skin that could be felt? Clark experienced waves of disgust for himself. Who knew what was hiding inside of him, in his blood and organs? He shuddered.

"Its so strange," Lex began, his voice scrapped raw.

"What? Me?" Clark fought the urge to turn into the soft caress, because he wasn't sure what was happening here or what Lex wanted or felt.

"No, not in the way you're thinking I mean it," Lex said as he did that little mind-reading trick he sometimes could pull off with Clark. Another brush of his thumb along the delicate orbit of Clark's eye and the boy shivered with the gentleness of the touch. "You're extraordinary. Wonderful. Strange in all the best ways. But I wasn't exactly referring to you."

"What … what were you referring to, Lex?" Clark asked, feeling almost hypnotized by the other boy's gentle touches.

"Just that I've always wanted to know if there was life on other planets. I've always believed that the greatest thing we could ever know was that we are not alone," Lex said.

Clark's heart rose slightly. "But if that's true then … then why did you … react like that?"

Lex gave him the saddest, softest smile. "Because telling me that you are an alien, proving that we are not alone in this universe, is the one thing … the only thing … you could have told me that would ensure that no matter what we found out about your true parentage that we could never dispute Lionel's claim and … and that you could never be mine."

Clark's head reared back, his eyes wide with confusion and shock. "What? But why? I don't understand! Lex, this ship proves that I can't be your brother and that I'm not his son! So I can be yours! I can!"

Lex shook his head slowly. "You're right that the ship may prove you aren't my brother, but Lionel can never know about the ship. He can never know, not even guess, that you aren't human, Clark, because …"

Clark's mouth opened and stayed there as suddenly realization hit. "Because … because if he knew that I was an alien he'd …"

Again that sickly smile appeared that Lex only wore when Lionel was talked about. "He'd do terrible things to you without a moment's thought."

Clark trembled. His whole body went hot then cold and sweat broke out all over. Clark sank to the ground and Lex followed him down, helping him get there softly instead of in a heavy heap. Every horrible nightmarish thought he'd ever had about being caught and dissected and tortured to find out what he was made of flew through his mind. Lionel Luthor would have almost unlimited resources and no ethical compunctions to slow him down in teasing out of Clark every secret his body and mind held.

Lex continued, his voice steady, his eyes despairing, "So you see, Clark, if we dispute Helen's analysis, Lionel will demand more tests and … whatever trick of fate allowed her to test your blood and have the results come out seeming human … seeming Luthor … we cannot risk everything on such luck occurring again. If there is anything in your blood to show your true heritage then … well, we just can't risk it."

Clark buried his head against Lex's chest, so grateful when not only was he not pushed away, but was held close. His hair gently stroked and the warmth of Lex's breath on his scalp.

"What do we do, Lex?"

Lex paused in his stroking to place a kiss on Clark's head. It was tender and soft and loving though sad as well as if Lex was mourning, too.

"You have to become my brother, Clark. You have to become a Luthor."


	7. The Mystery of Blood

THE ARTIFACT

By Raythe

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. No money made.

PAIRING: Clark x Lex; Lionel x Lex

WARNINGS: Slash/Incest/AU

RATING: M

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MYSTERY OF BLOOD

Lex's POV

Lex shut the door to the mansion long after Clark had exited from it. Already he missed the boy even though he had been the one to send him away. Lex rested his back against the cool wood. He stood there for a few moments, hearing only the soft ticking of the mantle clock.

Under the shadow of the spaceship in the Kents' cellar, Clark had asked him what they were going to do. Lex had given him the only answer he had. But he knew Clark didn't understand the full ramifications of his words.

The boy had given him that wide-eyed shocked stare and Lex didn't have the heart to push the issue any further. They still had a little time while Lex "rechecked" Helen's results before things were going to change radically. Maybe he would think of another solution during that time, but he doubted it.

So instead of causing Clark to panic even more by explaining what the new reality was bound to be, Lex said anything more. Instead, he had them leave the cellar. He even had the sense remained to make sure the boy had locked the cellar doors. Anyone could go down there! But then again who would look in a storm cellar for a space ship? Clark had clicked the padlock shut and even tested it to make Lex happy.

Clark was just as obliging when Lex asked to be superspeeded back to the Castle. The awe-shucks grin and the blush tinging his cheekbones told Lex that Clark thought their evening was going to go forward in a pleasant manner. Lex hated to dash his hopes, but it was yet more proof that Clark was simply not understanding.

The last thing Lex ever wanted to do was hurt Clark; and he never wanted to turn him away. His own desire had threatened to eat him alive as he felt the boy's arms go around him to take him to the Castle. Lex had rested his head on Clark's shoulder. He had felt the soft brush of Clark's hair against his skull then the tentative caress of lips, before that strange sensation of being moved at faster than the eye could see enveloped him.

It had hurt to tell Clark when they arrived at the Castle that only Lex was staying. Clark was to go back to the farm, alone, for the night, which the boy had refused to do.

"I told my parents I would be spending the night at your place. They'll ask why I'm not," Clark had said softly, resisting Lex's efforts to shoo him back to the farm house.

Clark was like a piece of granite when he chose to be and Lex had almost laughed hysterically again at that description. Stubbornness was a Luthor trait after all.

"Tell them my father's staying at the Castle. You won't have to give any more of an explanation than that," Lex had offered.

"But I want to be with you," Clark had said, his lips pursed into an unconscious pout.

Instead of wanting to laugh, Lex had wanted to cry at that. He'd shut his eyes. "I want to be with you, too, Clark."

And soon they would be. All the time. Another thing, which Clark didn't seem to understand. They'd be brothers. Clark would be a Luthor and that meant … well, it meant a lot of things, but one of them was that Clark would be living with Lex. He was sure of it. His father wouldn't want to drag a teen around with him, nor send Clark to boarding school. Oh, no, Lionel intended to use Clark to keep Lex in line. And that meant keeping the boy close to Lex, in his sight and on his mind. A living, breathing, loving reminder of what Lex had to lose if he disobeyed. But Clark didn't see any of this and Lex didn't want to show to him until he absolutely had to.

"You don't have to go home … or back to the farm … right away. Actually, I should take some of your blood before you do. I have sterile test tubes and needles in a lab in the west wing," Lex had said and the boy had blanched.

Clark was shaking his head before he was speaking. "It won't work."

"What won't work?"

"The needles won't go in. Invulnerable skin," Clark had explained.

"How did Helen get the blood from you the first time then?" Lex's forehead furrowed as he had then remembered how Clark had looked in the hospital that one time the boy appeared injured. He had murmured, "You were bruised then and—"

"A lighting strike temporarily transferred my powers to someone else. Making me seem human," Clark had said and his head had drooped as he'd softly confessed, "But now … I think I'm even stronger and more … invulnerable than before."

Lex heard the shame in the boy's voice. Clark was ashamed at being different. Alien. And Lex felt a wave of hatred for the Kents run through him. How could Clark not view his alienness as a terrible thing with Jonathan Kent spouting platitudes about _human_ goodness? He shoved the anger into a box in his mind, compartmentalizing it for later. Too much was at stake right now for him to be distracted.

"I suppose if some Kryptonite were near me my skin might be soft enough to puncture," Clark had offered.

"You've always felt soft to me. Almost fragile even though I knew I hit you with my car and it left not a mark on you," Lex had said as he'd grasped Clark's wrist and slid the flannel shirt up to the elbow, exposing the silky, golden skin. The boy gave a slight shudder as Lex's fingertips traced the blue vein-trails from his wrist until they disappeared deeper into Clark's flesh. "You're breakable, Clark. Sometimes you don't seem to understand that so I have to make sure you don't get broken," he said the last as a whisper.

"Lex," the boy had said his name breathily, arousal tinting Clark's cheeks a becoming pink.

Catching himself, Lex had jerked his hand back. His own skin had burned where he'd touched that beloved flesh. "I shouldn't have done that."

"But why? You were just saying what you felt … and acting on it."

Those wide, green eyes had stared at him, confused, and Lex had wondered, not for the first time, how someone so intelligent as Clark was and living in this terrible world as Clark did could still be so untouched by it.

"Because we have to get used to … not doing these things … again," Lex had said then changed the subject, "You keep calling the meteors Kryptonite. Why?"

Clark had stuffed his hands into his jean pockets and scuffed the ground nervously as he had said, "Krypton is the name of my planet. Or was the name of it. It was destroyed. The meteors are all that remains of it. They followed my spacecraft here and … well, they weaken me and … and cause the mutations and … kill people."

Lex had nodded. His hand had passed over his scalp, the unconscious gesture he had yet to rid himself of when the meteors were mentioned. Clark had looked stricken and Lex cursed his own subconscious.

"Don't feel guilty about what happened to me, Clark. I've never been sick a day in my life since the meteors came. I heal incredibly fast and … haven't you heard, bald is beautiful?"

Clark had given him a lopsided grin. "You really are a geek, you know that, right?"

"To know my geekness is to love my geekness," Lex had said.

"Yeah. Love every part of you," the boy had whispered and took a step closer.

Lex had taken a step back and Clark's growing smile faltered as he realized that Lex was going to stick by his no-touching rule that night. At least, Lex was going to try, which was another part of the reason he wanted Clark to go home. He simply hadn't known if he could last that long against the irresistible force that was Clark Kent. Or Clark Luthor.

"I guess we can't get some Kryptonite at this late hour," Lex had said.

Clark, however, had started staring off into the Luthor property, his eyes narrowing, then widening as he gave a low cry. "Ah, found some!"

"Found some?"

"Kryptonite. There's some in the flowerbed right by the drive. Not much, but I think it would be enough if you laid it right on my skin," Clark had explained.

"How can you see it? Its pitch black out there," Lex had said.

"Oh, x-ray vision. At night Krypton glows green when I use my x-ray vision," Clark had explained.

Lex had tried to keep the gob-smacked look off of his face. He didn't want to make Clark feel any more like a freak than he already did about his powers. But despite Lex's semi-teasing statement to Clark earlier that night, the boy did have all the best superpowers a comic book hero would need. Now if only he could …

"Can you fly?" Lex had asked him suddenly.

Clark had given him a shy smile. "Not yet. I can float though. I think one day soon I'll be able to fly."

"Unbelievable," Lex had breathed then his wonder gave way to dismay. How was he going to keep Clark's powers from Lionel's notice? And if he couldn't, what would he have to do to keep Clark safe? Anything he had to, was the answer his mind offered, and he knew there was probably nothing he wouldn't do to ensure Clark's happiness and welfare. "Well, let's go get that Kryptonite."

"Uhm, Lex, why do we need to test my blood anyways? From what you said … no matter what we find we aren't going to dispute Helen's results," Clark had asked quietly. The boy's hunched shoulders and lowered head had let Lex know that Clark was worried that he was about to go all mad-scientist on him.

Lex had not been offended at Clark's fear. It had been drilled into him by the Kents. And to some people, no matter how sweet and good and human-like Clark was, they would see him as a creature that had no rights or worse was a threat. Perhaps in another life, Lex would have thought the same thing. And that frightened him more than anything. Because Clark was what made Lex human.

Lex had explained slowly, "I want to test your blood just to see if Helen mixed up the samples in the first place. I want to compare your blood to the sample that Helen gave me. If it clearly isn't yours, and isn't mine, then it would indicate that there's another Luthor heir running around."

Clark had immediately perked up as he understood Lex's plan. "Oh, I get it. Like she had a mislabeled test tube. Meaning that she never tested my blood at all, but somebody else's, right? And then we could find that person and distract your father with them and then I'd be off the hook."

"Exactly." But Lex doubted that was the case.

There were three facts that told Lex such a scenario wasn't likely to be true. First, the painting from hundreds of years before showed Luthor ancestors that bore an uncanny resemblance to the two of them. He sensed his father wasn't lying about the painting's authenticity. Second, there was the blood test which showed Clark was a Luthor heir. And third, and perhaps most damningly, the fact that Clark, an alien being, looked so impossibly human in every way even though the odds against such a thing were astronomical. These facts were all mixing in Lex's brain and forming a terrible conclusion. But he wouldn't even let himself think it until he had tested Clark's blood himself.

"Okay, then," Clark had said as he started towards the Kryptonite. His steps had abruptly slowed. "Uhm, Lex, even with a small amount of Kryptonite near me I get sorta sick, real fast, so maybe if you—"

"I'll go get it. How about you meet me in the lab? Then we'll only need to expose you to the Kryptonite for a moment. Can your x-ray vision pick out which room the lab is?" Lex had asked, trying to make it a game to distract the boy.

Clark had squinted at the Castle then gave a crow of delight. "First floor, right by the two potted geraniums in the last hallway."

"Perfect. Meet me there," Lex had said and Clark had loped away.

The rest of the night with the boy had been uneventful. The three blood vials Lex had drawn from him were now resting in the refrigerator in the locked lab. Looking red and human as could be from the outside. Clark had been fascinated, if a little ill from the Kryptonite, by the blood drawing. Lex realized that the boy had probably rarely seen his own blood. He'd insisted on giving Clark juice and a cookie afterwards even though the minimum amount of blood taken had not hurt the boy at all. Clark had laughed at that, having seen in the movies how people got woozy after giving blood, and drank and ate eagerly all that Lex gave him. Besides, it had given them a few more moments together before Lex was forced to make the boy go. It was just a creak on the stairs caused by the Castle settling, but it was enough to remind Lex that his father was in residence. He didn't want Clark subjected to any more of Lionel Luthor that night. And he doubted his own restraint.

"Call me tomorrow? Let me come see you, please?" Clark had begged.

"Of course, Clark. Tomorrow," Lex had promised. He could still feel the brush of Clark's fingers against his cheek from the caress the boy gave him before he supersped away.

Which led Lex to where he was now, avoiding the fact that there was one more person in that house that he had to draw blood from to perform the tests: his father. Lex pushed off from the front door. He had three test tubes with their needle packs and a flexible rubber hose to use as a tourniquet in his pocket. They slapped against his leg as he walked and were a physical reminder that he needed to see the elder Luthor.

He slowly walked up the stairs and down the hallway until he was outside his father's door. The soft strains of Mozart and the sound of a cognac snifter being set on the marble topped table by the fireplace in Lionel's bedroom told Lex his father was awake. Probably waiting for him. Lex took a deep breath, forced his heart rate down and knocked.

He didn't wait for his father to tell him to enter before he opened the door and strode in. Best to make this as businesslike as possible. It was only when he caught sight of his father sitting in the overlarge chair by the fire dressed in a dark blue silk dressing gown and matching pants that he realized his mistake in bearding the dragon in his den. Lex froze halfway into the room.

It was the first time he had allowed himself to see his father in his bedroom half-dressed like this since one night three years before. When Lex had been drunk and high and in a mood so dark that he didn't care what happened to him. He had just acted on how he felt and damned the consequences.

And that was always a mistake with his father.

Though Lex had a slight satisfaction in believing that he had surprised Lionel that one time.

As those thoughts filtered through Lex's brain, his body betrayed him. His eyes riveted at first on his father's hands. They were larger than his. Coarser. More masculine some would say as the backs of them were dusted with golden red hair and the fingers were callused from fencing and horse back riding. Lionel might be a corporate titan, but he wasn't afraid to be physical.

Slowly Lex's eyes drifted upwards. Over the taut, silk-covered stomach to the 'v' of revealed muscled chest to the tumbled tawny locks that lay on Lionel's shoulders. Then his father's throat was in view. Even with the beard obscuring the skin, Lionel kept the beard cut close enough that the sharp line of his jaw could be seen and the expressive lips were clearly visible. At the moment, that mouth was slightly open in a smile, revealing a snippet of very white teeth. The better to eat you with, my dear, the line from Little Red Riding Hood rung through Lex's head, before he finally looked into his father's eyes.

Lionel's eyes were always stormy, even when he was in a good mood. Unlike Lex's that changed with his emotions, Lionel's were ever constant. Lex pressed his own lips together to stop the slight tremor that had begun there when Lionel met his gaze and, of course, did not look away or even blink.

"Long time since we've been together like this," Lionel said softly as he closed the book and laid it beside the half-full cognac balloon, his words telling Lex that he, too, remembered that night three years ago.

Lex had the urge to grab the cognac and swallow the whole amount down. But that would require moving closer to Lionel and he suddenly didn't know if he could do that. If only that night three years ago had found him similarly frozen. But no, it hadn't. He had moved that night with frightening ease.

Lex forced one of his hands into the pocket of his pants and drew out the vials and rubber tubing. He held it out to his father as an explanation for him being there, but Lex suspected it looked more like an offering.

"Come to be a vampire, Lex? Take my blood? Don't you have enough of it in your own veins … or do you want some more?"

Lex wet suddenly dry lips. "For the tests. For Clark."

"Oh, yes, of course. For your … brother. That's what brings you here."

Lionel smiled and held out his right arm, palm up. Then he slipped the sleeve of the silk robe up to expose a muscled masculine forearm.

"You have to come nearer, Lex, if you want to take my blood."

"I …"

"For Clark, Lex. Surely you can come to me for him."

Lex's eyes flickered up to Lionel's and wondered if he meant more than what that first level of meaning his words conveyed. But then again, when did his father ever mean just the obvious?

Lex almost stumbled as he moved closer to his father. He winced at his own sudden clumsiness. He mentally made his natural grace reassert itself even as knelt down in front of Lionel to take the blood more easily. Only once he was on his knees did he wonder why he hadn't even asked Lionel to stand for the blood drawing. Lex gritted his teeth. He was in the most submissive pose he could imagine and Lionel hadn't played any part in getting him there. He had done it all by himself.

Lex told himself that he was unnerved, ruled by the past at this moment, which had made him act this way. But if he got up in a huff it would only make things worse. Best to pretend nothing was wrong. That he had intended to be like this with his father. That it meant nothing.

Lex felt the puff of his father's breath on his skull, smelt the rich orange of the cognac, and his own mouth watered for a taste. Of the cognac. Not his father's mouth. Or so he told himself. He didn't love Lionel Luthor. Didn't need that one moment of connection they had had one night, which felt a lifetime ago. A moment without acrimony between them. A moment when Lex had felt his father loved him. That they could be more than adversaries.

The rubber tubing snapped around Lionel's forearm. The veins bulged. Lex fumbled with the needle pack. Lionel's free hand was suddenly holding his, steadying him. Helping him.

"Afraid I'll hurt you, father?" Lex asked, but his voice didn't have the normal lace of venom.

"No, Lex. Only that you'll hurt yourself," Lionel's voice also was mild, almost gentle. "That's what I've always been concerned by."

Lex closed his eyes. The hiss and pop of the fire were the only sounds. It warmed the side of him that was nearest to it. At that moment, he could not see his and Lionel's relationship as normal, what he saw instead was that he could be all right with them being anything but normal.

Lex's eyes flew open and he stuck the needle in Lionel's veins. The blood flowed rich and red and quickly. He inserted the next tube and the next until he had three full vials. More than enough to test. Lex realized he had forgotten a band-aid. He found himself using his hand and his own sleeve to staunch the flow.

Lionel unsnapped the tubing and flexed his arm, catching Lex's hand between his forearm and bicep. Lex could feel the strength of the muscles that pinned his fingers. Lionel worked to keep himself in perfect shape. He was in better condition than many men half his age.

Lionel leant down until his mouth was even with Lex's ear. Lex could not move.

"That night. That night like this night. Do you remember it, Lex?" Lionel asked.

Lex could only nod.

Lionel's mouth came closer. Lex swore he felt it brushing against the sensitive skin of the shell of his ear. The barest caress. Lex's heart trip-hammered in his chest. What killed him was that he didn't know whether it was from disgust or desire.

"I still think about that kiss you gave me," Lionel said.

Clark's face floated up to the front of Lex's consciousness instead of that moment with Lionel. Would the boy still want him if he knew what Lex had wanted from his own father so long ago? Perhaps still wanted?

Lex felt his father's free hand slip behind his head as if to cradle it … or keep him still as Lionel said, his voice little more than a breathy whisper, "Best kiss I've ever had."

Lex consoled himself later, safe behind the locked doors of his lab, that he had only started running after he had gotten out of Lionel's sight.


	8. Thief of Lives

THE ARTIFACT

By Raythe

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. No money made.

PAIRING: Clark x Lex; Lionel x Lex

WARNINGS: Slash/Incest/AU

RATING: M

CHAPTER EIGHT: THIEF OF LIVES

Clark's POV

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. A perfect spring day, but Clark had no appreciation for it. Instead, he sprawled listlessly on the couch in his Fortress of Solitude even as his mind raced over the events of the day before. Clark had looked in his bathroom mirror long and hard that morning, expecting to see some outward change now that Lex knew both of his secrets. But he looked the same as he always had.

Clark had felt a fluttering of panic when he'd come down for breakfast and his mother had been there, afraid that she would see something in his face that he had not. But she had merely asked him why he was home instead of at Lex's.

"Did you two have a fight, honey?" Martha had asked as she flipped pancakes.

He'd shaken his head and resisted the urge to drink straight from the milk carton. "No, Lionel came in town and spent the night at the so it didn't seem like a good idea for me to stay over."

Clark was amazed had at how easily the lie had come. But then again he had been lying to everyone else for quite some time, why not his mother, too?

"Definitely for the best. I don't want any of this family nearer that man then we have to be," Jonathan had said as he entered the house from the porch. "Besides you spend too much time with that Lu… with Lex as it is. I'm sure he has better things to do than hang around with a sixteen year old."

Clark's shoulders had tensed the moment his father had piped up about Lex and his spending time together. Sometimes he thought his dad suspected how he felt for Lex, but didn't want to face it. And then there were the constant anti-Luthor comments. What if Clark were a Luthor? Would Jonathan still think and say those things? Would he become painted with the scarlet L just like Lex was?

Yet Clark didn't believe that he would be named a Luthor regardless of Lex's statements last night. He had faith that Lex would think of something. The other was inconceivable. Clark believed that the blood tests that Helen had done were somehow totally wrong or she'd mixed his blood up with someone else's. After all he had the ship and its AI to prove he was Kal-El from the planet Krypton. Clark frowned. He should have told Lex about the AI, but with all that had gone on he hadn't thought about it. Perhaps he should go talk to the AI now and find out what it thought of this matter. Not that he wanted anything to do with Jor-El. He and Lionel Luthor had a lot in common. Neither man showed the right kind of fatherly concern in Clark's opinion.

In fact, Lionel hadn't acted like he _cared_ that Clark was his son or not, only in how that information affected Lex. Clark wondered if Lionel really believed Clark was his child or if it even mattered to him. From what Clark could see, Lionel's world was really all about Lex. What was ironic was that Lex didn't understand that at all. Lex thought he meant nothing to Lionel when Clark could tell that Lex was the _only _thing that mattered to the elder Luthor.

Clark thrashed back and forth on the couch. It groaned ominously, which caused him to sit still. It was already mid-afternoon and still no phone call from Lex. Clark didn't know how long the tests would take, but he had no doubt that Lex had worked all night and this morning, too. Also, he was sure that no matter how long a normal lab would take to do the tests, Lex would have a quicker, better method of doing it.

Clark sat up with a huff of breath. He was tempted to superspeed over to the Castle, but for all he wanted to see Lex, he was afraid to go over there while Lionel was around. Although the elder Luthor had made it sound like he wasn't intending on leaving for some time. At that moment, as if in answer to his own silent request, Clark heard the low throaty purr of one of Lex's sports car rumble up the driveway. Clark's heart leapt and he wiped his suddenly sweaty hands on his jeans. He stood up and went to the window to catch his first sight of the older boy.

Lex always looked good. He dressed himself meticulously and even when recovering from the latest meteor-mutant attack, he still managed to appear elegant, refined and … well, just plain beautiful in Clark's opinion. So Clark wasn't all that surprised when Lex exited the dark blue Jaguar looking like something off of GQ's cover even though Clark was sure that he probably had no sleep the night before.

Lex wore a grey, light-weight coat that hung down to his knees, one of the cashmere turtlenecks he had in every color, today's color was a slate blue, and black slacks that clung in just the right places to his long, lean legs. His eyes were covered by the purple-tinted rimless glasses that glinted in the sunlight as Lex raised his head to look up at Clark.

"Lex!" Clark cried out. He made a move to go back into the Fortress' interior so he could meet Lex in the yard, but the older boy motioned for Clark to remain where he was.

Clark couldn't help the smile that crossed his face when he heard the light tread of Italian loafers coming up the stairs. Even though he felt sick with nervousness about what Lex had come to tell him about the tests, Clark still experienced that almost profound joy whenever Lex was near him and today was no different than any other in that respect. The older boy was at the top of the stairs and stood there just looking at Clark, too many emotions crossing his face for Clark to understand them all, but what made him feel weak and strong all at once, was the love he saw there for him for one long burning moment.

"Aren't you going to come all the way in or is hanging out on my barn's steps the new hip thing for billionaires to be doing these days?" Clark asked, appropriating Lex's comment to him from the day before.

"I find that being with you is more classic than hip. Never going to go out of style," Lex said softly with a small smile, just a flash of teeth and then gone, as he walked in further. Even under the sunglasses, Clark could see Lex's eyes playing over the familiar surroundings of the barn as if he were memorizing it. Clark swallowed and gestured towards the couch.

"Do you want to sit down or … I mean, you look kind of … tired," Clark said lamely and scuffed the floor with one work boot.

"Thanks. Join me?" Lex asked as he dropped on one end of the couch.

Clark sat down nearer to him than he'd dared in the past, but not as close as he would have liked. He shifted around to face Lex. The older boy was looking at him again, but still hadn't taken his sunglasses off. _'He's hiding from me behind them,'_ Clark thought and was plucking the light glasses off of Lex's face.

"I want to see you," Clark said in explanation as he palmed the specs.

Dark circles that hadn't been apparent under the sunglasses stood out vividly against the alabaster skin. Clark could also see that the color of Lex's eyes was a softer, almost pale gray, which indicated exhaustion, but also resolution.

"Do you … uh, are the tests done? Any … any news on that?" Clark asked even as his throat seemed to want to close shut on the words.

Lex nodded and yet didn't say anything.

"What did you find out?" Clark asked. "Helen made a mistake handling the test tubes, right? I mean that has to be it. She mislabeled them and somebody else is your brother. Other than me, right?" The words that had been pouring out of him so quickly suddenly dried up when Lex gently covered one of Clark's hands with his own.

The older boy's voice was soft, but he could have shouted for the effect it had on Clark as he said, "She didn't mislabel them, mishandle them or make a mistake in any way. I confirmed that her results are … correct."

Clark's mouth fell open. "Wha … what? But that's … I don't understand … I don't … If she didn't make a mistake … Lex, what are you saying?"

Lex's eyes pinned Clark where he sat. They were filled with this strange mixture of compassion and determination that made Clark's heart hurt.

"The tests show that you _are_ my half-brother, Clark. That you're … Lionel Luthor's son, too," Lex said then fished into his coat's interior pocket and brought out a photograph. He handed it to Clark.

The photo was of a beautiful woman with long dark hair and laughing green eyes. Her skin was olive-hued and her lips full. _'Just like mine,'_ Clark thought as he stared uncomprehending at the picture.

"Where'd you get this?" Clark asked.

"Lionel. We … talked … this morning after I confirmed Helen's findings." Lex continued, "Her name is Lucretia Varoletti."

"She's Italian?" Clark asked, noting the dark coloring along with the exotic name.

Lex nodded as he explained, "Lionel had an affair with her about seventeen years ago when he was in Venice, Italy. He lost sight of her for about four years until … until she contacted him again saying she had something to tell him and someone whom he had to meet."

"Did he … did he meet up with her?" Clark asked faintly. He was listening and responding to this story as if it had nothing to do with him even though his intelligent mind had already grasped what Lex was trying to say. But the problem was he thought it impossible.

"He was going to. He," Lex paused, his eyes flickered outside to the sky for a moment, but then back to Clark. "He requested that she come to Smallville rather than Metropolis so my mother wouldn't … wouldn't know. The meeting was to be--"

"On the day of the meteors?" Clark asked, his voice a whisper.

Lex nodded and tightened his hold on Clark's hand. "The meteors came and … he didn't make the meeting. He didn't hear from her after that day either. He thought … well, Lionel isn't known for … for thinking about others unless it gets him something. So he didn't connect the meteors and a little boy being found by the Kents with … Lucretia or himself for that matter."

Clark was standing before he realized this. "You think I'm her son? Their son, together?"

Lex rose, tenderly placing his hands on Clark's shoulders, "Yes, Clark, I do. You have her … eyes. Her mouth. And Lionel's … Lionel's blood."

Clark felt a tremor go through him. "That's impossible. You know it is. You've _seen_ the ship for god's sake! Lex, you can't be saying this!"

Lex's eyes went dark, not with anger, but with pain for him, and something flashed behind them, which told Clark he wasn't saying everything he knew.

"What? What is it? What are you holding back?" Clark resisted the urge to shake him.

"Nothing," Lex said, but he wouldn't meet Clark's gaze.

"You're lying! Lex, please! Tell me! Did you find nothing in my blood to show that I'm … I'm an alien?" Clark asked, clutching at the older boy.

Lex gave a soft sound, but he framed Clark's face with his hands, his expression anguished. "There are anomalies, but … but you're clearly Lionel's son. My … my brother."

Clark shook his head. His stomach roiled and his skin felt too tight. He'd always wanted to be human before, but now … now he wished he was anything but. Being Lex's brother would foreclose the one future, the one person, he knew he was supposed to be with, would never feel alien with. He would fight for that. He had to. That's when he remembered the AI.

"Wait! There was something last night that I forgot to tell you, to show you. It'll prove that whatever these tests are saying isn't true," Clark said. "Please come with me. Let me show you. Let me prove to you that we … that we can be … that it isn't true!"

Lex swallowed deeply and his eyes flooded with that knowledge again that he wouldn't share with Clark. _The anomalies_. Since Lex didn't know about Jor-El, it could only be the anomalies in Clark's blood that Lex had found making the older boy act like this. That's what Lex wasn't telling him. It made Clark ill, because Lex would only lie to protect him. But what knowledge was he protecting Clark from? After all, what could be worse than knowing that he was Lionel Luthor's illegitimate son, that the Kents had lied to him about who and what he was, knowingly or unknowingly, and that his and Lex's love for each other could never happen?

"Come with me, Lex. Please," Clark begged.

Lex nodded reluctantly.

"Meet me in the cellar. I have to go get something," Clark said, knowing he had to superspeed to get the octagonal key in his room to turn the ship on and access Jor-El's consciousness

Lex hadn't even made it down the barn stairs before Clark was already down in the cellar with the octagonal key in hand. Lex started when he saw Clark down there waiting for him.

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to that," Lex said with a gentle smile.

"This is the key to open the ship," Clark explained, showing Lex the metal octagon.

"My paperweight?" Lex asked, one eyebrow raised.

"My key … I'm sorry I stole it back from you, but … I was--"

"Never mind about that, Clark," Lex interrupted. "What's mine is yours."

Clark lowered his head and nodded. He had hated taking something from Lex, but that seemed so minor now compared with what they were faced with at this moment.

"The ship contains an AI of Jor-El of Krypton. He's my father. He'll prove that I'm not … not your brother," Clark said.

Clark slid the key into place. The ship hummed, glowed softly and began to hover a few feet off the ground. Clark could feel Lex's interest blooming. The scientist in Lex had always scared and fascinated Clark, but now it was all the latter and he appreciated how much Lex could help him with his alien heritage. _'If I'm an alien …' _Clark thought then squelched it.

The booming voice of Jor-El reached out to them. "Kal-El, my son, what brings you to see me with the Luthor clan?"

For the first time ever, Jor-El announcing he was Clark's father was welcome. Clark glanced over at Lex. The older boy's eyes had widened and the glow of the ship was reflected in them.

"We've come to establish what you just said," Clark responded. "That I am your son and not Lionel Luthor's … and not of the Luthor clan."

The ship was silent for long moments. Clark felt his mask of calm slipping. Why wasn't the ship answering? It was a simple yes or no answer, wasn't it?

"You are my son," Jor-El intoned.

Clark's shoulders slumped in relief, but not for long.

Jor-El continued, "But you inhabit the body of another's child, which was modified by our technology and the Kryptonite that accompanied your craft to Earth to accommodate your consciousness."

Clark's heart seemed to stop. He saw Lex shut his eyes for a moment as if the words hurt him. Then Lex laced one hand with his and squeezed it tightly. Clark drew strength from that touch to keep going.

"What are you saying, Jor-El? That you … that this body …"

"Was made from a human form we found acceptable at the landing site of your pod," Jor-El said.

"A human … form? You mean a little boy … a little boy with his … his mother ... who was in Smallville that day?"

"Yes. The human form was with a female of the species. The pod could not sustain your young body within it on your long journey and we knew it would be easier for you to adapt to Earth in an indigenous form, so we downloaded your consciousness alone into the pod and then when you landed … we transferred it to the most suitable human form nearby after the necessary alterations were made," Jor-El explained simply.

"And the boy who … the boy whose body this is? Is his consciousness in the pod?" Clark asked through numb lips. The only thing keeping him standing there, asking questions calmly, was Lex's warmth at his side.

"No, he is … not in the pod. It would have made no sense to sustain him in that way and human consciousnesses are more … fragile than ours and not fit to survive such a transfer," Jor-El answered.

"So he's … he's just gone? Wiped away and I … I replaced him?" Clark asked. The world seemed to grow a little dim around him as he took in what Jor-El was saying. "And what of his mother? What happened to her?"

"She was too near the landing site. Her body was reduced to ash," Jor-El responded.

Clark turned to Lex. His body hurt as he if had been beaten by Jor-El's words. He moved slowly, almost carefully, because he felt if he moved more quickly he might break.

"Lex … you knew, you guessed about all this, didn't you?"

Lex ran one hand down Clark's cheek. "I guessed that it had to be something like the ship said. You are … too human … not to be."

"But I'm not human, Lex. I'm just wearing a human form," Clark said, his voice cracking. "Like a suit coat. Like a … pair of sneakers."

Lex was shaking his head. "No, Clark, that's not true. You are human. You're more human than anyone I've ever met. And you're … you're my brother."

"Lex, I'm not," Clark said, tears running down his face that he only knew he was shedding by the wetness on his cheeks. "I'm just the person who stole your brother's body … stole your brother's life."

At that moment, there was a gasp and cry behind them on the stairs. Both boys turned around and saw Martha Kent standing there, one hand covering her mouth, her face looking bone-white under the ship's glow.

"Clark … Lex … what's … what's going on?" she asked.

"Mrs. Kent," Lex said gently, but firmly, "Let's go upstairs. We need to talk."


	9. Chapter 9: A Clean Cut

THE ARTIFACT

THE ARTIFACT

By Raythe

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. No money made.

PAIRING: Clark x Lex; Lionel x Lex

WARNINGS: Slash/Incest/AU

RATING: M

CHAPTER NINE: A CLEAN CUT

Lex's POV

Lex sat at the Kent's kitchen table. A cup of strong coffee warming his hands while baking blueberry and peach pies scented the room. Even if he had felt completely welcome by Mr. and Mrs. Kent here, he doubted he would ever feel truly comfortable in the farmhouse. This homey country kitchen was as alien to him as his sleek ultra-modern Metropolis high-rise would be to the Kents. He had only enjoyed this place in the past because he had thought it Clark's. Now he knew that Clark had never belonged here either. Clark had belonged with him all along.

Lex tightened his grip on the coffee cup. How ironic that the Kents, who had made him beg for crumbs of Clark's company over the years, had been the ones to never have a right to Clark in the first place. They were the thieves. Not Clark. Never Clark. The Kents had stolen Lex's brother from him for years and now … now he was here to get him back. There was some sick satisfaction in this fact. Some modicum of revenge in it.

Mrs. Kent fussed with the milk and sugar bowls on the table, turning them so that their handles pointed the same way as they both waited for Clark to return with his father from the fields. Lex didn't want to have to explain the new order of things twice. Best for there to be no misunderstandings and a clean cut. Lex snorted internally. He knew that this severing could never be clean or neat or easy. But it had to be done this way, Lex's way, or Lionel would do it his way and that would be much, much worse. Lionel had said as much to Lex when they spoke that morning.

Lex had ascended from his lab at 1:00 p.m. to find his father sitting in the dining room. A sandwich and the Wall Street Journal before him. Lionel folded the paper and set it to the side when Lex entered, still wearing the clothes from the night before, circles so dark under his eyes that they looked painted on. Lex normally could go for days without sleeping and experience little ill-effects, but the emotional toll was sapping him physically and mentally.

"Well?" Lionel asked.

Lex expected malice, glee or unholy venom from Lionel as soon as the other man scented victory, which he clearly did. Lex expected his father to rub the truth into him like salt into a wound. He at least expected _some_ reaction considering their encounter the night before. But Lionel defied his expectations. He just sat there, calmly, his soft, fawn-colored suit and cream silk shirt looking pristine in the afternoon light. Lex felt all the more rumpled.

"Who is his mother?" Lex asked.

"You confirmed Helen's results then?" Lionel pressed almost gently.

"Yes, Clark … Clark is your son."

"And your brother."

"And my brother."

Lex turned his head to the side and stared out the window, trying to muster some sort of anger or outrage on the fact that Lionel had cheated on his beloved mother and created a child, but he was numb. Clark was his brother. _His brother_. Yet Lex still desired him. Was it Clark's Luthor blood that had drawn him all along? No, that couldn't account for it, because Clark was everything a Luthor was not: loving and kind and warm and gentle. Lex loved Clark for how un-Luthorlike he was.

"Sit down and eat, Lex. You look like a ghost," Lionel said and rang the bell for the servants.

Lex didn't protest. Just sank down in one of the heavy brocade-backed chairs beside Lionel. He hardly heard Enrique enter and just nodded when his manservant asked if he would like soup and a sandwich.

"You really aren't surprised? That he is your son," Lex asked.

"I thought he looked … familiar. Just like his mother. As you resemble yours."

Lionel placed a photograph of a stunningly beautiful woman before him. Lex immediately recognized Clark in her features: those wide green eyes, full lips and high cheekbones. The story of how she and Lionel had met, joined together and lost one another barely registered and Lionel did not push any details. They had been scheduled to see one another again on the day of the meteor shower. She told Lionel that she had someone for him to meet. But they never saw each other that day after the sky fell. Nor had Lionel ever heard from her since.

Clark looked human. Clark was human. Mostly. Clark was his brother and … and something else, too. He thought he might be able confirm that "something else" with more testing, but that hadn't been necessary as it turned out. Jor-El had filled in the blanks nicely.

Lionel said, "Lex, I want this settled."

Lex turned back to look at his father. The soup spoon was halfway to his mouth. He had been eating though he didn't recall the taste or even the heat of the creamy vegetable bisque on his tongue.

"What do you mean?" Lex asked.

The tawny eyes burned into Lex. "Clark is my son. I want him living with his family. Here. In the Castle."

Lex hadn't been surprised by that request. Regardless if Lionel valued someone or something, if he considered them his then they would be his alone. He didn't share his toys. So Lex was shocked by the fact that he found himself asking, "Do you even care about him, Father?"

"Does it matter, Lex?" Lionel asked, one eyebrow raised and a slight smile curled his lips.

"It matters, because you're going to uproot him. Destroy the life he knows and pull him into ours. Why do that? Why not leave him where he is? He's happy with the Kents," Lex said, his hands clenched on the table. "If you don't care about him … don't do this."

"I want what's mine to be _mine_," Lionel responded sharply and then added, "Besides _you_ care about him and, in the end, isn't that all that really matters?" Lionel's hand suddenly covered one of his and the heat from it had burned. "Make it happen, Lex. Bring him home. But know this … if you don't … I will, and we both know how that will go."

Lex was brought back to the present by the screech of the porch door opening and shutting behind Jonathan and Clark. Lionel's words hardened Lex's resolve to make the Kents release Clark to him that day. He could feel the tension in the room rise exponentially as Jonathan's work boots clomped over the threshold. He caught a glimpse of Clark's anxious, strained face as the boy sat down next to him. A brush of the Clark's hand on his shoulder was the only contact between them, but Lex could feel the unseen connection they always shared grow stronger. Martha hovered then sat down as well. She grasped her husband's hand and drew him to the table, too. Jonathan's angry blue eyes bored into Lex.

"So Luthor, what is this all about?" Jonathan asked

"Dad! His name is Lex! Not Luthor! Lex!" Clark cried out.

The spark of anger Lex had long repressed for this prejudiced, judgmental man flared for a moment. He had to remind himself he was going to destroy Jonathan Kent in the next few minutes so indulging in any petty wounding would be useless and bad form. Besides it would hurt Clark.

"Mrs. Kent, how much did you hear of what Jor-El said to Clark and me?" he asked her.

Jonathan half-rose from his chair, white-faced yet paradoxically his veins bulged in his neck, as he leant threatening forward. "Jor-El? My God! How … how does he know … Clark, you didn't tell him that you're … tell me you didn't say anything to him!"

"I told him! I told him everything! I didn't want to lose him!" Clark jumped up and stood by Lex's side. "And I had to! You don't understand. Lex will tell you. I'm … I'm not … not who you think … what you think. I don't … god, Lex, I can't explain … please …"

"What are you asking for to keep silent about Clark's … specialness? What's your price, Luthor? That's what this meeting is all about, isn't it? God, you're worse than your father!" Jonathan spit the words out like they tasted rancid in his mouth. Lex saw Jonathan's eyes flicker towards the cabinet in the corner and he wondered whether the shotgun was kept there.

Lex saw Clark go pale at Jonathan's words. The boy's eyes were huge as he said, "Don't … don't say things like that! You have no idea what you're saying … really saying. And Lex has only been good to me … to all of us!"

Lex heard the pain and confusion in Clark's voice. It cut through some of the numbness that had plagued him since all this had started. This was Clark. This was _his_ Clark that was being hurt and he could only try to minimize the pain, not stop it. For Lionel would have his way and, god help him, Lex wanted Clark with him forever, too, so his and his father's goals were the same for once. Since he'd all but given up any idea of having Clark as his lover even before all this happened, he'd at least get to have him at his side as his devoted younger brother.

Martha snapped out, "Jonathan! Clark! Sit down, both of you!"

Lex was gratified to see that both men, after only a moment's hesitation, slowly lowered themselves into their chairs. Clark was the last to fully sit down as he was watching Jonathan carefully, clearly protective of Lex. A small well of warmth grew inside of Lex. Clark loved him. Loved him enough to stand up to the Kents. To take his side in a fight.

Lex turned to face Martha. She had laced her fingers tightly together on the tabletop.

"I heard everything that Jor-El said," Martha said.

"What did Jor-El say?" Jonathan asked.

Martha's head lifted and her eyes met Jonathan's. "That Clark is Kal-El, his son, but that also …" She suddenly reached across the table and covered one of Clark's clenched hands with her own, holding onto him tightly as she said, "But that they … downloaded … I guess that's the word … Clark's consciousness into the body of another little boy. Lex's … Lex's half-brother."

The silence stretched. Martha rubbed one work-hardened thumb over the tops of Clark's white knuckles. Jonathan quick bark of laughter broke the silence and caused Clark to jerk in his seat. Under the table, Lex squeezed Clark's thigh to comfort him. The boy pressed his leg up against Lex's palm.

"That's insane. That's absolutely … Clark a _Luthor_? No, not … not possible," Jonathan said, his gaze jumping between Martha and Clark as if they would at any moment suddenly shout 'April Fool's.'

"It's not only possible, Mr. Kent. It's the truth. I have the blood tests to prove it," Lex said and slipped a copy of the lab work across the Formica-topped table.

Jonathan slapped the papers away. They fanned out across the table and two of them fluttered to the floor. "I won't believe it!"

"You must. And you must do so now," Lex answered coolly.

An ugly flush rose on Jonathan's face. "You little bastard! I will not—"

"Why, Lex?" Martha interrupted her husband.

"Because Lionel knows one part of what those lab tests show, but he cannot be allowed to know the other part," Lex said, his gray eyes piercing Martha's.

"He _knows_ that Clark is--"

"His son, yes. That's what brought all this on." Lex ran a hand over his skull. "But he doesn't know that Clark is also Jor-El's son. And he must _never_ learn that," Lex emphasized 'never.'

Martha had gone paler than he'd seen her that day as she clearly understood what Lionel would do to Clark if he discovered the boy's alien origins. "But how … how do we stop him from finding out about Clark?"

Lex took a deep breath. He had hoped Mrs. Kent would understand the gravity of the situation and give him this opening. He felt eerily calm as he began the speech he'd been practicing since this morning.

"You give Clark up to me today. You let him go. No fuss. No legal proceedings. No threats or shotguns. Clark comes … _home_ … to the Castle," Lex explained, the words 'home' and 'Castle' actually feeling natural on his tongue in one sentence for the first time. "If there's no fight with you over Clark's parentage, Lionel will have no reason to test Clark's blood again. And Lionel will cede Clark's care over to me as he … he has no interest in raising another son," Lex said, skipping over what he believed to be Lionel's real motive in taking Clark. "So I'll be the one to control any doctor's visits or other things that could potentially reveal Clark's full heritage."

"He won't believe we'd just give Clark up without a fight!" Martha protested.

"No, but then again I be won't be telling him that you did," Lex stated simply. "Besides he believes that all things can be bought. So when he sees that I've paid off the mortgage on the farm and a healthy sum placed in your accounts, he'll feel his world view on human greed has been born out and the real reason you let go of Clark will never be known outside of us four."

"Wait a goddamned minute here! You're both talking like this crazy thing is going to happen. We are not giving you Clark. There is no way on this green earth that we're letting you take our son!" Jonathan jabbed one thick, callused finger down against the Formica tabletop to accompany each statement.

Lex had dealt with many difficult people in his day, both personally and professionally. The ones who spoke the loudest and turned red in the face as they let anger lead them were always the easiest to deal with in some ways.

He slowly raised his gaze and met Jonathan's directly. He had never challenged the older man to a contest of wills like this, always keeping his eyes averted and not letting the true strength of his personality show out of respect. But now the gauntlet had to be thrown down. Lex wasn't surprised when the older man's eyes darted away from his after a few moments.

"Mr. Kent, the problem with your … _argument_ … is that it is based purely on a fallacy," Lex said softly.

Jonathan gave a bark of laughter. Mimicking Lex, he said, "Based purely on a fallacy? Why don't you just speak plain, Luthor? Or is talking like regular people beneath you?"

Clark gave a sharp intake of breath. Lex knew the boy was about to defend him again, but he held up a hand to stop it.

"You want me to speak plainly, I will," Lex said. "Simply put: Clark is _not_ your son. Nor do you have any legal rights to him considering the adoption papers must have been forged. If you fight Lionel, Clark's alien heritage will likely be exposed through further blood tests and Lionel will imprison him and dissect him so fast your head will spin."

Clark gave out a little whimper at that and Lex laced his fingers through Clark's under the table. Lex hated to say these things. Hated to hurt Clark with these realities, but the Kents had to understand the stakes here. Jonathan had gone pale beneath his tan. One of Martha's hands clutched the thin top of his shirt, her knuckles white.

"So you see, losing Clark is inevitable," Lex said, his voice lowering. "There is no choice you could make which will change that. Where the choice comes in is whether Clark will live a relatively normal life, out in the world with his freedom and a chance for happiness … or as a science experiment in some secret lab, tortured and in pain. _That_ is the only choice before you."

Silence fell like a heavy blanket over the room. The sound of Martha's chair scrapping across the floor as she stood and walked stiffly over to the sink seemed to reverberate in the air. She leant heavily against the sink's lip, her eyes looking forward, but blindly, not seeing anything.

"If we do this … will you and Clark stay in Smallville?" she asked.

"Yes, at least until he finishes high school then … I'll relocate to wherever he's going to go to college," Lex answered softly, his shoulders slumping as tension drained from him. Even though he knew the Kents would do the right thing, he'd still had doubts that they would understand the situation so quickly.

Lex glanced over at Clark's face to see what the boy was feeling, but Clark's head was down, his dark hair falling over his features like a curtain, shielding his expression from view. Jonathan Kent's expression, however, was clear for all to see. It was a combination of shock, rage and grief. Beetled brows and sunken eyes. Lex didn't find the satisfaction he'd imagined looking at the older man's defeat.

Jonathan's bloodshot eyes met Lex's. "I wish you'd never come here," he whispered. "Or that you died in that car wreck."

Lex didn't outwardly react, but some part of him that had always wanted this man's respect shriveled at his words.

"Dad!" Clark sounded shocked and wounded.

"If you had just _died _then none of this would have ever happened. Damn you, Luthor. Damn you." Jonathan Kent stood, swaying slightly on his feet, then he was moving. The swing and screech of the porch door told of his passing.

"Lex, don't listen to—" Martha began.

"Why? Because he doesn't mean it? We both know that's not true," Lex said, squaring his shoulders. "And he's right … if Clark and I had never met that day or if I had … died—"

"Don't say that, Lex!" Clark said, his head jerking up. "I wouldn't want a life without you in it. I just …" Clark looked at his mother and his shoulders slumped as he realized what he'd said. "I'm sorry, mom, but … Lex is really important to me. I've known since the moment I saw him that … that I had to be with him. No matter what."

Lex met Martha's gaze over the tabletop. Her expression was surprisingly opaque. He wondered how much she guessed about the extent of Clark's feelings for him. Did she think, like most of the town did, that he'd taken the boy to bed already? Lex frowned slightly. What would happen once Clark was announced as his brother? What would the gossips of Smallville say then? Clark was sure to be injured by it. Lex vowed to somehow shield him from it.

"You're losing your son," Lex said. "I expect your hatred."

Martha wiped tears away from her eyes. "I don't hate you, Lex. I've never hated you."

'_But you never liked me either_,' Lex thought, but said out loud instead, "I appreciate that."

"Will we … will we get to see Clark? I mean, he'll only be at the Castle so surely we'll be …" Martha's words faded off at Lex's unpromising expression.

"I … I'm not certain that will be possible or even advisable," Lex said and he felt Clark respond to his words with a quick intake of breath but the fan of hair was back over his eyes making reading Clark's face impossible.

"But … but why?" Martha's voice was faint.

"You worked for my father. You … _know_ … him if just a little. Is it your impression that he shares anything at all?" Lex asked.

"He'd really cut us off from Clark just … just because …"

"He considers Clark his. And he won't want your influencing Clark anymore than you already have. But you know this, Mrs. Kent, don't you? You guessed from the beginning how much this might cost you."

Lex saw the despair mixed with determination in the rigid way she held herself.

"I always told myself that I would do whatever it took to keep Clark safe," she said. "Even … even give him up."

She suddenly shuddered. Her shoulders turned inward and she wrapped her arms around herself as she began to weep. Lex wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know if his touch would be welcome. Clark though was already going to her. He enfolded her in his much larger form.

"Its okay, Mom. It's okay. I'll … I'll just be at the Castle. You were always saying that I practically lived there before so not much is changing. No matter what Lionel might want he's … he's hardly ever in Smallville so he won't know if I come … come … home a lot. Lex will find a way to make it happen. I know he will," Clark said as he looked over at Lex with wounded yet hopeful eyes.

Lex could only give him a faint smile. He knew that it wouldn't be so easy as Clark supposed. Lionel had spies, among other methods, to determine if his offspring were disobeying him. But Clark had such faith in Lex to make everything right. Even after Lex wasn't able to stop him from being plucked from his own home.

Such faith still.

Lex felt sick. But he sent the feeling where all those other useless feelings of worthlessness and fear went. He fed it to the fire inside of him that had made him do insane things like walking into the plant to trade his life for a bunch of high school kids or conversely shooting up enough heroin to kill ten men just to see if his enhanced immune system could handle it.

Lex rose from his chair. "Clark, do you still have the bag you packed for last night's stay at the Castle?"

Clark nodded. "It's on my bed."

"Your favorite things in there? Minus your favorite red shirt that you're already wearing," Lex remarked.

Clark blushed and dipped his head a little. Lex knew that Clark had worn the shirt for him as much as for himself. The boy did look good in it. The shirt was tight across the shoulders, hugged Clark's broad pecs then skimmed down his sides till its bottom brushed along the base of Clark's flat belly.

"Why?" Clark asked. "I mean why does it matter if my favorite stuff is … oh, we … we're going to the Castle today?"

"Now … actually," Lex said.

Martha's eyes teared up again but she brushed away the moisture and stood straighter. She met Lex's gaze and gave an imperceptible nod. She understood. They should leave now. While Jonathan was gone. A clean cut.

"It's better this way, honey. Gives you the weekend to … to get used to things. It'll just be like a … a sleepover only … only …" She stroked Clark's cheeks and pushed his hair off his forehead. "Well, it'll be just like that."

Clark squirmed under his mother's maternal touches: wanting them and yet trying to be adult enough not to want them.

"Mom! You're fussing," Clark said and screwed his face up in what could only be described as an adorable way as he ducked his head down against his chin as if he could avoid the caresses somehow.

'_And he's supposed to be a Luthor? An adorable Luthor? Could such a thing exist?'_ Lex thought and couldn't help the ghost of a smile that was on his face. The smile faded to nothingness though. For soon the reality would set in for Clark and he'd be missing his mother's touch, her food, the way the laundry smelt when she did it and all the other little things one took for granted until they were gone.

"What about the rest of Clark's … Clark's things, Lex?" Martha suddenly asked. "Do you want me to … to bring them over later?"

Lex purposefully didn't look at Clark or his mother as he answered, "No. The clothes in his overnight bag and his school books should be … sufficient."

Lionel wouldn't want Clark, a Luthor, a reflection of him, to be wearing anything that wasn't handmade, wasn't the finest, let alone K-Mart flannel shirts. Lex admitted to himself that he shared that snobbishness about clothes and he was going to enjoy outfitting Clark properly. He would experience great pleasure in seeing Clark dressed in things that truly fit him and would accentuate the boy's natural beauty.

Clark was biting his lower lip. His eyes going from Martha to Lex. It was time to go and Clark sensed it. But Lex knew that the boy couldn't make the move to come to him on his own. So Lex extended his hand. Clark slowly reached forward and clasped it. The preternatural warmth of that large palm in his was like a confirmation of everything Lex had hoped and feared all his life. It confirmed that there was goodness in this world and that it was his job to protect this goodness from Lionel and all others. He only hoped he was up to the task. One look into green eyes and he knew he had to be. No matter what.

"Come on, Clark," Lex said. "Let's go get your things and … go home."


End file.
